Story Archive

Gentrification

The “Silicon Valley” city of Palo Alto, Calif., has seen housing prices skyrocket to the point where small homes are worth $1.5 to $2 million — as teardowns, meaning that is the value of the dirt without a house. “Prices have just gone through the roof,” said Palo Alto Vice Mayor Greg Scharff, “making it unaffordable for middle-class people — your firefighters, your teachers, and, frankly, some of your doctors.” Middle-class families, unable to afford housing, are moving out of the city. “We have people struggling to make it at a quarter-million dollars [of income] a year,” resident Randy Bean said. The city is studying a proposal to deal with the solution by subsidizing housing for families making up to $250,000 a year. The plan would call for new, smaller units for people who live near transit and don’t own cars. (MS/KCBS San Francisco) ...No car, tiny house: middle-class life in the 21st century.