For the better part of a decade, NASA Ames and UC Berkeley have been planning to build a $2 billion space center at Moffett Field, but few details about the massive project on Mountain View’s border have been publicly known. That changed recently with the April release of an environmental report laying out different scenarios for the project....
Palo Alto hotel laid off full-time staff and brought in contract workers
When dozens of service workers at Hilton’s Graduate Hotel in downtown Palo Alto were suddenly laid off in April, some were told it was because management planned to close down the restaurant on the ground floor. To the surprise of former employees, the hotel’s restaurant is still bustling and staffed — with temporary contract workers....
Mountain View to tackle downtown office vacancies as rate tops 30%
As Mountain View enters the third year of a 10-year plan to revitalize the local economy, the city is seeing retail vacancies trending down in the heart of town, while downtown office vacancies are increasing. The retail vacancy rate in the downtown area was 6.1% in April, down from 8.5% two years ago. In contrast, the downtown...
Proposed Palo Alto office complex sparks debate
As Palo Alto prepares to create a new residential community along San Antonio Road, city leaders are confronting a question that had dogged prior planning efforts: How much office space should the new neighborhood accommodate? The focus on the debate is on what’s known as the CTI subarea next to U.S. Highway 101 and just...
Hundreds turn out for Palo Alto’s first Pride event
By all accounts, Palo Alto’s first Pride Month event was a resounding success. King Plaza in front of City Hall was transformed into a sea of rainbows on Sunday afternoon, with rows of colorful pop-up tents lining the streets and hundreds of attendees (and a handful of pet dogs) adorned in pride regalia. To mark...
Jeff Rosen ahead in Santa Clara County DA race
In the race for Santa Clara County District Attorney, incumbent Jeff Rosen holds a lead in his bid to reign supreme for another four years. Early results show Rosen, who is running for his fifth consecutive term since he was first elected to the office in 2010, is ahead of his opponent Daniel Chung. As...
Affordable housing breaks ground in downtown Mountain View
The construction of 120 affordable apartments on a city-owned parking lot in downtown Mountain View is officially underway after facing years of financial struggles to get built. City and local leaders gathered outside Mountain View’s Civic Center Plaza Wednesday morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of Corso, a five-story affordable housing development at 444 Bryant St., near Mountain View’s City Hall. The...
Mountain View grapples with carbon neutrality goal as support wanes
For years, Mountain View has been making progress in combating greenhouse gas emissions with a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. But that target is shaping up to be more challenging than anticipated, as shifting political winds have altered federal and state policies that the city once counted on to help reach its decarbonization goals. “The last time the...
Palo Alto seeks ‘pro-housing’ designation after resisting growth
Palo Alto is seeking to earn a pro-housing designation from the state of California this year, a label that would mark a major shift in the way the city has responded to growing regional housing needs amid significant resident pushback to new development. If the city’s application succeeds, Palo Alto would join 74 other cities — including...
Silicon Valley lawmaker favors AI tech partnerships over regulations
With artificial intelligence threatening to upend workplaces throughout Silicon Valley, the area’s representative in Congress has an idea he hopes will reduce anxieties about the revolutionary technology: nudge tech companies to take a central role in educating the workforce of the future. The tense relationship between recent college graduates and AI has been on display...