Affordable Housing Site

A letter to Mountain View Mayor Matt Neely and the Mountain View City Council recommending that a City-owned lot at Franklin and Evelyn Avenues be a prioritized site for affordable housing.

Mayor Matt Neely
Mountain View City Council
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2005

Dear Mayor Neely and Members of the Council,

As you consider selling or leasing the three remaining large City-owned lots in the downtown area, the League of Women Voters of Los Altos/Mountain View would like to encourage you to prioritize the Evelyn Avenue site for affordable housing.  This site is ideal for affordable housing in Mountain View because of its downtown location, the present zoning, and close proximity to the Transit Center. 

There is a great need for truly affordable housing downtown for the many people who work there and cannot afford to live in Mountain View.  We support the Smart Growth principle of having jobs and housing near each other, if possible, or at least having housing near where there is reliable public transportation to employment sites. 

The League also supports building affordable housing to meet the needs of all segments of our society.  The Housing Strategy focus groups have agreed that the greatest need for affordable housing in the City right now is for very low income families.  This site is ideal for that purpose.  Most of the recently-built housing in the downtown has been for-sale units. The rental situation is exemplified by Park Place, a very large rental complex, which has one-bedroom units renting for $1,600 per month.  Clearly they are targeting the high end of the market. Downtown should provide housing that is affordable to very low income families, as well.

Finding a suitable site for affordable housing is typically the most difficult part of building it.  The City now has a unique opportunity to help meet the need of affordable housing for very low income families by simply setting aside the Evelyn Avenue lot for this purpose: Non-profit housing developers have indicated that they would pay fair market value to buy or lease this parcel.

Sincerely,

Susan Russell, Chair
Housing Committee

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 10, 2008 10:21 PDT.

© Copyright League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area, California. All rights reserved.