At a parking lot near the Palo Alto Baylands, 23 vehicles serve as the homes of more than 40 individuals. The city’s first safe parking site for people who live in their cars has been around since 2021, where clients access case management, showers, a kitchen and laundry services. In theory, the residents are there...
Contract dispute delays Homekey Palo Alto opening
A dispute between contractors has disrupted the construction of the transitional housing complex that Palo Alto and nonprofit organization LifeMoves are preparing to open on San Antonio Road, next to the Baylands Nature Preserve. The Homekey project at 1237 San Antonio Road has been in the works since fall 2023, when city and state leaders...
Palo Alto prepares to go big on housing around San Antonio Road
Creating what is essentially a brand new neighborhood from scratch is no easy feat — a fact the Palo Alto City Council wrestled with Monday during a discussion of the San Antonio Road Area Plan, a roadmap for building more than 1,500 homes. The plan hopes to bring thousands of new homes, as well as retail,...
Palo Alto rail crossing closure debate weighs public safety, traffic congestion
In the weeks since another death on the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto rocked the community on Feb. 3, city leaders have scrambled to find the right policies to respond to the ongoing crisis. They have recommitted to funding mental health services for youth, hired security guards to monitor the tracks and, most controversially, revived...
Spurred by neighbors, City Council limits Palo Alto Commons expansion
Neighbors who live on Wilkie Way succeeded Monday in urging the Palo Alto City Council to limit the expansion of an assisted living facility that faces their backyards, a vote that settled a yearslong dispute between residents and the owners of Palo Alto Commons over privacy and parking. The city council signed off on seven...
Palo Alto approves ‘mission critical’ objectives for coming year
Palo Alto leaders set themselves up for a busy year on Monday when they approved a list of 42 measurable goals to carry out for the next year — an agenda that includes adopting a new area plan for neighborhoods around San Antonio Road, crafting a policy for managing consultants, completing a new bike master...
Palo Alto may end ride-share program amid bleak budget outlook
It’s been a year of change and uncertainly for Palo Alto Link, the ride-share service that the city launched in March 2023 and that continues to fight for its life in the face of an increasingly skeptical City Council. Compared to private services like Uber and Lyft, Palo Alto’s nine-vehicle fleet remains a relative a...
Palo Alto RV parking enforcement up, residents still unhappy
Palo Alto leaders are increasingly looking to regional partners to help address widespread RV parking throughout the city after months of increased enforcement has seemingly done little to alleviate concerns from residents and business owners. The effort is being led by the City Council’s recently established oversized vehicle ad hoc committee, which is made up...
Silicon Valley lawmaker’s bill aimed at suicide prevention in K-12
Editor’s note: Resources for any person who is feeling depressed, troubled or suicidal are listed at the bottom of this article. With Palo Alto facing increased pressure to address youth mental health, Assemblymember Marc Berman introduced legislation this week aimed at providing access to free suicide prevention training to all K-12 students, teachers, administrators and parents...
Palo Alto homeless residents find shelter in Sunnyvale hotel
It’s a simple hotel room: a bed and night stands, a small kitchenette and a bathroom tucked in the far corner. For Paul and Sheryl, it’s the difference between a good night’s sleep and a restless eight hours in a crowded shelter — or worse, on the street. “Out there, you have one eye open...