Few buildings epitomize the evolution of Silicon Valley better than the sprawling, lofty structure on Portage Avenue, which began its life as one of the nation’s largest fruit canneries and later evolved into one of Palo Alto’s major retail destinations, best known for Fry’s Electronics. On Tuesday, the 73,000-square-foot building that was once known as...

It’s been nearly six months since Palo Alto leaders celebrated the grand opening of the city’s new public safety building, a $123.5-million facility near California Avenue that took decades of planning and five years of construction. Most of the work on the three-story building at 250 Sherman Ave. was completed by the summer of 2025,...

Amid concerns about traffic congestion and emergency response times, one glaring issue that could arise if Palo Alto leaders decide to close the Churchill Avenue train crossing is the lack of an adequate detour for cyclists and pedestrians. For Palo Alto High School students trying to get to class, their most likely route would follow...

Concerned about a new housing law that encourages development near transit areas, Palo Alto is considering numerous zoning changes that would blunt the impacts of the new legislation in neighborhoods like Old Palo Alto and Greenmeadow, which are dominated by single-family homes. Palo Alto officials are looking to minimize the impacts of Senate Bill 79, a...

Despite local officials’ claims to the contrary, public records show hundreds of law enforcement agencies from around the U.S. searched data from Palo Alto’s automatic license plate reader cameras over a period of about a year. The city’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, operated by Flock Safety, were made available to out-of-state and federal...

The Palo Alto City Council on Monday approved a demolition order for the dilapidated building in College Terrace that used to house the Stanford Terrace Inn, rejecting an appeal from the property owner. Between insufficient fire sprinklers, hazardous materials stored in the garage, broken doors and other issues, the conditions on the premises were among the...

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...

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...

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,...

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...