State and local officials on Monday celebrated the completion of the suddenly popular but sparsely used bike lanes on El Camino Real with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by dozens of cyclists and advocates for safer streets. City officials from Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto voiced their appreciation for the project’s completion...
Mountain View looks to add buildings to historic register
Mountain View is taking steps to update its historic preservation ordinance to protect more historically significant properties, including putting dozens of previously unlisted properties on the city’s register of historic resources. The Environmental Planning Commission weighed in on staff recommendations to streamline the eligibility criteria and review process for nominating, listing and delisting properties of historical significance...
Mountain View approves 4-story condo development
A four-story condo development in Mountain View largely sailed through a City Council meeting, despite some opposition from residents who said the project was not a good fit for the neighborhood and did not provide enough parking. In a 6-1 vote, the City Council approved a 47-unit condo development at 266 and 272 Tyrella Ave., just...
Commission doubles down on limiting Palo Alto Commons expansion
The divisive expansion of the Palo Alto Commons assisted living facility was once again scaled back by members of the Planning and Transportation Commission, which on Wednesday signed off on just seven additional units despite City Council direction to nearly double that number. It’s the second time the commission has arrived at the number of...
Mountain View homeless population jumps 56% in last two years
Mountain View’s homeless population spiked 56% over the past two years with the vast majority of unhoused people residing in vehicles, according to a report released by Santa Clara County this week. The number of homeless individuals in Mountain View jumped from 562 in 2023 to 879 in 2025. Countywide, the homeless population also increased...
Palo Alto looks to add tunnels across tracks for cyclists, pedestrians
Palo Alto is weighing eight options, seven of which are tunnels, for bicyclists and pedestrians to have a safer way to cross the Caltrain tracks between the California Avenue and San Antonio stops. City staff must now pare down the list from eight to two before returning to the Planning and Transportation Commission in November...
Mountain View fines Google for cutting down 800-plus trees
After Google chopped down more than 800 trees in Mountain View to make way for an office project that it later abandoned, the tech behemoth has now agreed to pay up to $703,000 to plant hundreds of new trees throughout the city. The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved a tree mitigation agreement with Google on...
Silicon Valley lawmaker wants oversight for National Guard deployment
Responding to recent moves by the White House to deploy National Guard troops in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo is leading an effort in Congress to require the president to submit a detailed report whenever such deployments occur. Liccardo has been a persistent critic of President Donald Trump’s decision in June...
Silicon Valley’s Foothill College wins top ranking in annual survey
Foothill College was named the No. 1 community college in the country and state in a 2026 list by Niche, an education website that uses data from the U.S. Department of Education to rank schools. This is the second time since 2023 that the Los Altos Hills-based college has received the top national ranking calculated through student...
Mountain View inspires Liccardo to introduce federal housing bill
It’s not often that Mountain View gets the chance to shape housing legislation that could have an impact far beyond its borders. But the city recently inspired the introduction of a bipartisan bill that could make it easier for municipalities to use federal funds for affordable housing. Last week, U.S. Reps. Sam Liccardo (D-California) and Mike Flood...