Dear City Councilmembers,
I am a renter who has lived here in Menlo Park for the last four years. My partner and I moved to Menlo Park when I started grad school at Stanford, and we have grown to love our neighborhood, neighbors, and local coffee shops/restaurants/and businesses. Our dog also loves it here, and he considers Burgess Park his kingdom. Jokes aside, we appreciate Menlo Park enough to continue living here, even though my partner and I both work in San Francisco and have to make that commute most if not all the days of the week.
We support more affordable housing in Menlo Park because this city has the potential to become more vibrant--and for more people. More people should be able to enjoy and contribute to what this city has to offer and see a future for themselves here. More density will also improve the walkability of this city and bring more foot traffic and dollars to local businesses.
Lastly, this city has a mandate to build more housing--live every city does in California. The housing shortage affects us all, and we are obligated to do our part, lest people forget it. This proposal to build housing in downtown parking lots would be a good step forward. Modern parking infrastructure--as seen even in nearby cities like Redwood City and San Mateo--can be easily implemented to continue to provide adequate parking.
Thank you.
Warmly,
Royce Chang
Royce Simón Chang
royceschang@gmail.com
(818) 516-7716
