Guest Commentary

By Dave Taormino, a Davis Housing Provider, WDAAC Developer 

Housing Shortage: Yes on L Offers Housing Choices

Davis is one of only a few cities in California that has a self-inflicted shortage of homes and apartments. A massive housing shortage exists in the Bay Area because of the lack of land and tremendous job growth.  The same problem occurs in Southern California.

Davis needs more housing of several types: for seniors, locally based employees and more student complexes on campus. At least student apartments have made progress, but none for seniors and others.

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by Bob Schneider

Properly planned, the northwest corner of Davis offers an important opportunity for meeting development needs in Davis in a manner that reflects Davis values. Neighborhoods, a natural habitat swale for the Covell drainage, flood water pond storage, edible vegetation, affordable co-housing, senior housing, community gardens, appropriate commercial, and live-work buildings, bordered by protected farmland and open space reflects my values and I believe our Davis values.

Working towards this vision necessitates a General Plan update or a Northwest Specific Plan.

Piecemeal development, focusing on one development at a time, may preclude this important opportunity.

I suggest  we delay  any immediate  decisions  until the new council is seated.    They can make a thorough, inclusive, and comprehensive decision without a rush to judgement on how we should best proceed.

For full disclosure- Yes, I was a builder and developer and for a time I v.,ras involved in the northwest area. My interest then, as now, was in first ensuring comprehensive planning. I no longer have any involvement or financial ties to this area.

(Originally published June 2018)

“Victoria Secret” I blurted.
The room erupted in robust laughter.
My stomach turned as my face went red.

By Carey Ann Hunt

            For years I have shied away from speaking in public or doing anything to put myself out there in a theatrical sense. I clearly recall a particularly awkward moment one evening in eighth grade.  I was invited to a High School Shakespeare play reading event. The 11^th grade boy I had a huge crush on was there.  Giddy with nervous enthusiasm, sweaty palms and a constant blush I mistakenly blurted out Victoria Secret instead of Victoria Station, when it was my turn to read and of course the room exploded in fits of laughter. It took a really long time for people to regain composure. Nerves, laughter, and the genuine dislike of audiences made me want to push that button that makes the floor drop down under me, rapidly opening into a hallway leading to an inconspicuous exit route. The button didn’t work.  I not only was still there I had to continue reading my part.

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What is the cost of paid parking in downtown Davis?

Not how much will it cost an hour to park, but rather, what will the effect be on local businesses?

Local businesses are worried about paid parking and 50-plus of them have founded downtowndavis.org to bring their concerns to the City Council and the Davis public. Again, and again business owners state that paid parking will hurt their business.

Advocates for the paid parking plan state, “Let’s not forget that a car parking spot used for one car — and one shopper — can instead be used by six bikes, and six shoppers.” But, this depends on there being six cyclists demanding a new spot to park. Given the current availability of bike parking downtown I see no evidence that these new replacement shoppers exist. As far as I can tell, no one is deterred from biking downtown for a lack of a place to park. The same is not true for car drivers.

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The headline in the Daily Post (#1 in Palo Alto and the Mid-Peninsula) is

"STANFORD HIT WITH HOUSING BILL"

….. and then underneath

"$155.8 million for expansion".

Yes,  you read that correctly, Stanford is paying Santa Clara County over $150,000,000 for permission to expand.

This is such good news.  The money goes to affordable housing in the County exchange for expansion of academic buildings associated with Stanford University.

Bravo Santa Clara County!

There is also an additional requirement to build affordable housing on campus.

Gosh, it is so refreshing when a university provides valuable resources (like cash) to the local areas where it is located.  

Way to go Stanford!!

John

To be sure, I am still learning about this "deal".  And I am willing to be enlightened.  So, my comments are preliminary….. but concerned.

It seems like the deal is totally future oriented.  That is, it takes a "go forth and sin no more" form of agreement i.e. it only pertains to the students who come to this area due to the (additional) incremental growth of the University.  That is often a good approach, sometimes makes it easier to come to an agreement.  Particularly if parties are inclined to maintain previously entrenched positions.  *

But how about the 20,000 "temporary occupants" who are already inhabiting Davis and nearby towns? By this I refer to undergraduates who should be housed on campus who currently live in the community and drive rental rates up and availability of housing down. I don't mind if grad students are living in the community, that's fine. It is not unusual for "adult learners" to continue to live in the communities that contain the university where they did their grad work.

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Local businesses want parking.

By Colin Walsh

A new organization is growing in Davis. A group that is feeling shut out of Downtown planning. They are not your typical old Davis activists accused of protesting everything instead they are at the very heart of the downtown economy – Davis business owners. You can find them at downtowndavis.org

The website makes it clear what has this new group rising, "STOP PAID PARKING," and "ACT NOW."

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(Press release) Citing grounds of unplanned sprawling development, the Sierra Club announced its opposition to Measure L in Davis CA on the November 2018 municipal ballot. Measure L is a vote to allow the annexation of a 75 acre parcel of farmland on the northwest periphery of the City and the subsequent development of a senior housing project including 410 single-family, single-story detached homes and a 150 units of low-income senior housing. 

The endorsement of the opposition to this ballot measure follows an extensive evaluation process by the local Sierra Club Yolano Group, the Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter Political and Executive Committees, and the Sierra Club California Local Measure Review Committee.

The Sierra Club has long-standing official policies designed to minimize urban housing sprawl and maximize intensive infill development. These include planning policies which stimulate conservation of open space and preservation of natural areas and agricultural lands, The Sierra Club opposes sprawl as a pattern of increasingly inefficient and wasteful land use that is devastating environmental and social conditions.

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The story of a “a pop culture archaeologist” and “a place to explore both current and nostalgic aspects of our shared American experience.”

By Colin Walsh

There is an unassuming low-slung building under a pitched roof mid block on E street between 2^nd and 3^rd in Davis CA. The building is set back from the street and set further into the building is a door to another world. Through that door is a den of untold treasures: comic books, new and used, even classic and hard to find games; movie collection of titles that may not be suggested to you on Netflix; vinyl albums, card games, and a range of Americana and pop culture ephemera. The real treasure though is the store itself.

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