If the San Jose City Council’s policy work this past year could be summarized in one word it would be housing. In 2019, San Jose passed a slew of housing initiatives meant to increase the city’s housing supply, while also tweaking crucial rent control and tenant protections, which housing officials enforce and implement through the city’s Rent...
UPDATE: Lawmakers approve San Jose mayor’s spending plan for proposed tax
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s support for a real property transfer tax has been gaining more traction, as several community leaders, housing advocates and formerly homeless people lined up to speak next to the mayor at a news conference Tuesday to support using the funds generated from the tax toward affordable housing projects and homeless...
New state law could shepherd in an era of growth for North San Jose
Following years of frustration over the inability to approve housing projects in North San Jose, city officials say a new state law may help transform one of the city’s most critical economic hubs. San Jose city leaders and planners have long aimed to make a low-slung, industrial corner of North San Jose into a walkable...
‘Hope Cafe’ brings fine dining experience to homeless residents
Twice a month, a large room in a warehouse-like building not far from the San Jose airport is transformed into a fine dining hall — now called Hope Cafe. Tables are dressed with tablecloths and a multi-course dinner featuring decadent entrees from grilled salmon to barbecued ribs are served on nice china. Music plays lightly...
San Jose considers new changes to fines for landlords who violate rental laws
After a year of tweaking crucial San Jose tenant protections, the City Council on Tuesday could approve new penalty fees for landlords who flout the law. But once more, the stage is set for the lawmakers to argue on the merits of penalizing landlords who break the rules on laws such as just cause eviction, the Ellis...
Could California’s 3.5M home deficit be solved through rezoning?
When Gavin Newsom became California’s governor, he announced a bold goal of solving the state’s 3.5 million-home shortage by 2025, but there’s one major problem: cities across the state are only planning for about 2.8 million new housing units. What’s more, many of the areas where those 2.8 million new homes are allowed to rise,...
Year in review: The biggest housing projects in 2019
Housing has dominated every big policy decision in San Jose this past year, as the city faces a growing housing and homelessness crisis. Slowly, the city is inching its way closer to meeting Mayor Sam Liccardo’s goal of producing at least 25,000 new housing units — 10,000 of them affordable — by 2022. While city...
Hundreds gather in downtown San Jose for warm Thanksgiving meal
More than a hundred volunteers and people in need packed the African American Community Service Agency (AACSA) in downtown San Jose Wednesday to enjoy an early Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie. The residents were warmly greeted by an army of nonprofit service providers and volunteers, including Mayor Sam Liccardo, as they...
State ruling on San Jose-owned land sales may hit other cities harder
A ruling this week by a state appeals court on how California cities must sell their surplus land to prioritize affordable housing may have been tailored to San Jose, but the decision will likely affect other cities more, according to the city’s mayor. “San Jose has very little city-owned land that is developable, and for...
San Jose: Volunteers build tiny homes for homeless ahead of Thanksgiving
At a Habitat for Humanity worksite in East San Jose Wednesday morning Mayor Sam Liccardo joined volunteers gathered in the driving rain to put the finishing touches on 40 tiny homes that will be placed on a nearby lot and used as transitional housing for homeless residents next year. The typical tiny home is only...