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Flags fly at half-mast each Nov. 11 to honor Veterans Day across the country. In Silicon Valley, fewer veterans will look at those flags while living on the streets. All the Way Home, a campaign launched in 2015 to help end the homeless veterans crisis, has housed 2,201 veterans during the past seven years. The...
Coordinated campaign kills interim housing proposal in Santa Clara
A coordinated effort by hundreds of Santa Clara residents successfully killed a proposal to build interim housing for unhoused families. In a unanimous vote, the Santa Clara City Council rejected a proposal to build 60 units of transitional housing at 2035 White Oak Lane. Councilmembers directed city employees to search for alternative sites. The proposal...
How one tiny home community gives San Jose families new life
Tucked behind the old San Jose City Hall, a tiny home community is lifting local families off the streets. A neighborhood of roughly 60 residents in 25 units, Casitas de Esperanza—or tiny homes of hope—is a model of how Santa Clara County can help some of the most vulnerable unhoused people, residents at the site...
How Google’s downtown campus will transform San Jose’s art landscape
This article was produced in a joint partnership between San José Spotlight and Content Magazine, a nonprofit print publication featuring the innovative and creative people of Silicon Valley. When Alexa Arena commutes to San Jose from her home in San Francisco, she often takes Caltrain. “The good news is when you’re sitting on a train,...
San Jose State offers beds to homeless students all year
San Jose State University students say the school is failing to provide emergency housing for those in need. The university agreed this week to extend its one-semester, 12-bed emergency program indefinitely, but students say they have to jump through hoops to receive services. “Requiring students to take out loans is making it impossible to get an emergency...
San Jose business owners fear displacement from historic district
Dozens of Spanish-speaking businesses in the bullseye of rezoning on Willow Street rallied to force the city to rethink its position. Other business districts may not be so lucky. San Jose officials are exploring land-use changes to four business districts: Willow Street, North 13th Street, Willow Glen and Taylor Street in Japantown. The city wants...
Santa Clara County wants options for emergency housing sites
Local lawmakers are racing to build more emergency housing amid a growing homelessness crisis, but where these sites will go is still undecided. A pair of Santa Clara County officials want to use vacant or underutilized lots for a new temporary housing or safe parking site. The plan is to replicate the Casitas de Esperanza...
UPDATE: San Jose officials question statewide changes to single-family zoning
California Gov. Gavin Newsom effectively did away with single-family zoning last month with two pieces of legislation. But implementing the bills is leaving San Jose officials and elected leaders with questions as the laws come closer to taking effect. The San Jose City Council held a study session Thursday to discuss Senate Bills 9 and...
San Jose increases homeless camp cleaning efforts
San Jose residents and elected officials are frustrated with the buildup of more than 200 homeless encampments. The city plans to clean up some of them by next spring. The San Jose City Council reviewed the city’s ongoing encampment management policy on Tuesday. City officials will come back with a plan to identify encampments across the...
In Silicon Valley, college students see hardship through COVID-19 pandemic
This story is being co-published with The Imprint, a national news outlet covering child welfare and youth justice issues. College students have long gone hungry and slept in their cars in Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest enclaves in the nation. But many of the young people pursuing higher education this year face obstacles that...