Stanford sues Santa Clara County over housing law

Stanford never quite gave up on it's founder's Robber Baron moniker.

Santa Clara County, San Mateo County and virtually every city in those two counties impose huge restrictions and costs on developers who want to build houses. These are supported by most of the residents therein who don't want "market rate" housing in their neighborhoods. Then, like the good compassionate citizens they are, they cry about how there isn't enough housing and things are too expensive and it's because of big bad companies and institutions like Stanford and Facebook et al who are causing the problem by creating jobs. Look in the mirror and admit that it might be you, who impose the costly restrictions and mandates on developers who actually are driving up the cost of housing in the area.

maybe Stanford should stop using it billions of dollars to bully it neighbors and push problems on them like additional traffic and housing for those that are doing the labor for the university. It is time for Menlo Park, Palo Alto and other neighbors to stop Stanford. Stop approving any Stanford projects (they don't help the community and actually hurt them because they don't pay taxes) and start making the routes in and out of Stanford more convoluted to force them to deal with their own traffic.

Sorry but the housing shortage is not due to restrictions on building housing. The real problem is that the current zoning rules throughout the midpeninsula area allows office space to be built without commensurate housing or infrastructure to be built to support the jobs growth. That is a recipe for a severe housing shortage and horrific traffic in an economy like the current one with aeemingly insatiable demand for more office.

Responsible employer/developers would take care of their own but they do not. Stanford is as guilty as others. It is galling that they are suing. But the cities and counties need to do their part to repair the zoning. That is the job of government.

@zoning,
Sorry, but if you are going to blame zoning issues, then you better also condemn 50 year old low-density zoning strictures that are incompatible with the economic growth of the Silicon Valley. Trying to live in the past (suburban zoning) is harming the future...