Thanks for this thoughtful piece, Tovis. I fully agree that we have so much to gain!

Dr. Page’s views should be a reasoned plea to all the cities along the Peninsula fearfully reacting to the Housing Element. This same debate is happening in neighboring Menlo Park, Atherton etc…imagine if we all accepted this necessary change and worked together to welcome diversity across all aspects of community living, how much better we’d be for it! Change is hard for many, but changing our attitudes is a great place to start!

"Fear" isn't obscuring the "benefits" to more housing in Woodside, reality is. Do the math. More housing in Woodside will NOT equal "affordable" housing or anything close to it. The math simply doesn't work.

Tovis, [portion removed]

As owner of an ideal parcel to demonstrate how this can work for many, are you putting your words into action? Or is the $2 million cost of subdividing the lot and adding three ADU units to the property holding you back? Is it the prospect of your property taxes increasing to $ 30,000/yr? Is the cost of borrowing the $2 million dollars to create this "affordable" housing standing in the way? Did penciling out the P&L forecast enlighten you to the absurdity of such an undertaking?

[Portion removed]. California has a population decline going on in case you haven't noticed--hundreds of thousands are leaving each year. The blurred lines between the homeless and those with housing insecurity are two different issues. The single greatest housing benefit we could hope for in this state is the continued departure of employers and the jobs they take with them. Adding more toilets, showers, dishwashers and landscaping is not the environmentally conscious way to solve California's perceived housing inadequacies.