Many people were shocked to find that the affordable housing lobby ends up charging cities upwards of $500k to build new "affordable" units. But how about more than $50k for a tent? The SF Chronicle examines the madness.
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David Bahnsen, widely respected economist and Founder/Managing Partner of the Bahnsen Group, decries the way Google was coerced into paying into a giant, $200m slush fund as part of their deal to develop at Diridon Station. HIs comments are in response to Randal O'Toole's groundbreaking story in Opp Now (see nearby) and occurred during the June 23 Radio Free California podcast.
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Many urban planning experts believe that the coronavirus pandemic revealed frightening fault lines in modern American urban design. And that city leaders should be clear-eyed about what the pandemic taught us, and focus on substantial structural issues such as delivering core services, not on the trendy virtue signalling we see coming out of local city governments. Joel Kotkin considers the issues in City Journal.
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Once-vocal progressive critics to Google's downtown project have gone strangely quiet. Maybe it has something to do with the $200m community slush fund Google offered up to get local approval for the project. Randal O'Toole of the Thoreau Institute wonders if the Google deal sets a precedent that makes it impossible for small and medium businesses to develop in San Jose in the future. An Opportunity Now exclusive.
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The gems from the comments sections of the Merc, SJ Spotlight, and SJ Inside.
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Critical race theory, now ascendant in San Jose City Council Rules Committee meetings and other progressive institutions, rejects the colorblind sensibilities that drove the 20th century civil rights movement. In fact, even to say “colorblind” is verboten. Karl Zinsmeister mourns the passing of a grand vision in City Journal.
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We all know that the pain caused by the county's response to the coronavirus was substantial, but were assured it was worthwhile. A new study casts doubt on that supposition, and suggests that the lockdowns may have created many more problems than they solved. Brad Polumbo explores at fee.org.
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Scott Knies of the San Jose Downtown Association gets a shocking lesson in how local government--in this case Santa Clara County--can purchase or lease property in your neighborhood without complying with city land-use laws--and with hardly any public outreach. From an SJ Mercury op-ed.
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This week, the fine readers of the Merc, Spotlight, and SJ Inside, check in on housing controversies,The Flea Market, and more.
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Influential press with statewide and national reach is having fun with the Santa Clara County Democrat party's overheated call for Assessor Stone's resignation because he said his potential rival was "sucking union tit" in an interview. The Radio Free California podcast has a laugh over the local pearl-clutching (we say that metaphorically).
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Local progressives often contend that business and capitalism are the root of our culture’s extreme income and social disparities, and suggest government programs as the remedy. Witness the array of Housing market interventions promoted by city staff and local advocates. This approach is upside down, suggests Andy Kessler in the Wall Street Journal, noting that it’s misguided government policies that cause these inequities in the first place.
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Anti-Asian bigotry has a long history in the Bay Area, from exploitation of Asian workers building railroads to the Chinese Exclusion Act and forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Sadly, the bigotry continues, now with discrimination against Asians in school admissions. Wencong Fa of the Pacific Legal Foundation explores in the Wall Street Journal.
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