Update: Menlo Park council to discuss resident displacement problem Nov. 9

Why didn't they consider "the displacement issues of renters" before they approve Facebook expansions and before the elections? Kicking-the-can-down-the-road again?

Maybe this should have been done before approving the Facebook takeover of Menlo Park.

These are very reasonable measures that will help people who are being displaced now. I know that these would have helped me when I was a renter.

However, the best way to fight displacement is to make sure that there are places for people to move to. That's why the new General Plan Update matters. Facebook and other property owners on the Bayfront in Belle Haven have asked the city to let them build thousands of units of new housing. With the requirement that these new units include 15% below-market rate housing, Menlo Park has the ability to provide a real option to over a thousand people who are being displaced. There's just no other option to get that amount of affordable housing otherwise.

Rents are going up everywhere in the Bay Area, Menlo Park no more than Palo Alto or San Francisco. Pushing Facebook's new offices into EPA would have sacrificed the benefits Facebook is offering to the current residents of Belle Haven without lowering rents. But building more housing and more affordable housing will lower rents and fight displacement.

I'm proud that Menlo Park has come up with a plan that includes adding retail, creating jobs, and building housing, with strong traffic-reduction measures to tie it together. It is a good plan, and it's going to do a lot for our city, especially in terms of fighting displacement.