Housing

Housing

VTA bets big on housing in Santa Clara County

Transit comes first at VTA, but the San Jose agency sees a big future in residential real estate. Earlier this month, VTA announced several significant updates about housing projects being built on agency-owned land, also known as transit-oriented developments (TODs). On March 9, California invested $29 million to build a 569-unit housing project near Tamien...

Homeless advocates claim Milpitas mayor stonewalls solutions

The homeless crisis in Milpitas might be headed for a dead end. Some officials and advocates blame the mayor for exacerbating the problem. Milpitas, a city of roughly 80,000 people, started to see its homeless population balloon during the COVID-19 pandemic. An encampment behind the city’s library, one of the largest camps in Milpitas, has grown to...

Santa Clara starts task force to study homelessness

Santa Clara is assembling a task force aimed at tackling homelessness within the city and needs recruits. The city is working with San Francisco nonprofit Homebase to examine the needs and service gaps for the unhoused by creating a task force and strategic plan. The task force will be comprised of four to eight members, including...

Law group probes complaints at San Jose affordable housing site

Complaints are emerging at a San Jose affordable housing complex—and housing lawyers are taking notice. Attorneys with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley said several clients face eviction from Renascent Place, a housing site for chronically homeless and disabled people. The law group has heard complaints about property management firm John Stewart Company deactivating room keycards, maintenance workers entering...

Silicon Valley residents say state ‘death tax’ should go

An anti-tax movement is working in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in California to gut a law that taxes transfers of inherited property. An estimated 8,000 volunteers for the nonprofit Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association have been collecting signatures across California to put a measure on the November ballot to repeal part of Prop. 19. Approved in...

San Jose sees barriers to building affordable housing

In an effort to ease barriers to affordable housing construction, San Jose is exploring taking steps to incentivize developers. On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to accept recommendations based on interviews with seven developers and a detailed report highlighting three key barriers: construction costs, the permitting process and complying with development regulations such as...

Silicon Valley, state renters struggling to get relief

Barriers to COVID-related rent relief have placed thousands of renters in Santa Clara County and throughout California in desperate circumstances as they struggle to avoid eviction. A new survey documents common problems facing tenants in Santa Clara County and 26 other counties in California, using data provided by 58 organizations and partners that help tenants...

San Jose nonprofit helps residents track redevelopment

Neighborhood leaders in the Diridon area have launched a nonprofit to keep some San Jose residents in the know about construction in their community. The group, Stakeholders + Neighborhoods Initiative, or S+NI, created an app and website where residents can track development plans and public meetings relevant to Google’s Downtown West campus and other projects. The Downtown West project will...

How is San Jose spending its Google money?

San Jose is spending millions from Google on economic recovery as the tech behemoth gets ready to start expanding into the city. On Tuesday, the City Council approved how to spend the $4.5 million Google is dispersing before construction on the Downtown West mega campus begins over the next 12-18 months. Of those funds, $3.25...