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When California started its COVID-19 rent relief program in April with a plan to disburse $33 million in federal funds to San Jose residents, the city and Santa Clara County decided to run their own joint program for extremely low income households. But this hybrid approach creates problems, state officials say. “We have two programs in...
San Jose’s largest emergency homeless shelter closes
Homeless advocates say dozens of people are left without a roof over their heads after South Hall, one of San Jose’s largest temporary COVID-19 shelters, shut down Thursday. City officials have vowed to help find shelter for all the residents through a nonprofit partner. “Some people went to tiny homes,” homeless advocate Shaunn Cartwright told...
This Silicon Valley town is doubling its housing; residents are crying foul
In a town that has barely grown for the last two decades, Los Gatos is looking to add more housing—almost twice as many units as it needs by 2040. Officials are recommending 3,783 new housing units in the next 20 years. That’s a significant 90% increase over the town’s state-mandated housing production goal of 1,993....
San Jose: The second most expensive place to rent in the country
If you earn minimum wage in San Jose, you either need a roommate or a second job to afford market-rate rent. For the 44% of San Jose’s population that rents their homes, this is likely not a surprise. But a new report describes just how stratified the local rental market has become over the past...
Santa Clara County sees increase in value of taxable properties
The value of taxable properties in Santa Clara County rose by 4.6% since last year—showing that the pandemic’s economic impact had a limited reach. “This was not a normal business cycle,” Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone told San José Spotlight. “This was a self-imposed recession, based upon the health crisis.” The total value of...
Records show history of neglect at destroyed San Jose landmark
Before the H.G. Wade Warehouse in Alviso burned down last month, it suffered through a decade of neglect and failed attempts to transform it into a usable structure. San José Spotlight reviewed hundreds of pages of enforcement investigations and emails obtained through a public records request documenting the city’s fruitless attempts to keep the building from falling further into...
San Jose loses historic building in Alviso
A piece of Alviso history just went up in flames—and some locals wonder if the blaze could’ve been prevented. The historic H.G. Wade Warehouse in Alviso was destroyed after a fire broke out in late June. For residents struggling to preserve the spirit of a neighborhood that predates the Civil War, the loss of one of their...
Cost of lumber leads Silicon Valley builders to embrace new tech
The cost of lumber skyrocketed during the pandemic, but local builders say things are looking up. “It’s still above (the) norm, but it’s coming back down,” said Russell White, general manager of Lendlease America’s design-build division. “We expect the volatility to come back within normal constraints.” The price of lumber is $756 per thousand board...
San Jose backs off plan to evict homeless residents
A flyer threatening to criminally prosecute nearly 200 homeless people living in Columbus Park sent many longtime residents scrambling—but the city says it was all a misunderstanding. Living in the crash zone of an airport flight path has its downsides, like constant threat of eviction—but the unhoused residents of the 40-acre plot of land in San Jose say the...
San Jose to decide where to prioritize affordable housing
As San Jose prepares to consider new framework for where to build affordable housing, questions remain about how to increase opportunities for low-income residents and people of color. “Certain residents aren’t afforded the opportunity to live in higher-resource areas,” said Huascar Castro, associate director of housing and transportation policy at Working Partnerships USA. “The intent of the...