Consider the Civic Center as a Better Location for Housing

Aerial view of a neighborhood with trees, residential buildings, parking lots, and roads.

If we want to use city-owned land for affordable housing, then the north side of the Civic Center is a much better choice than the downtown parking lots:

1. It is Closer to Important Services and Amenities

The north side of the Civic Center land is:

  • Adjacent to the Library, Arrillaga Recreation Center, Burgess Field, Pool, Skatepark, etc.

  • A half block from the train station

  • Within a block from St. Franks, Cafe Borrone, Kepler’s, BBC, Philz Coffee …

  • 2 blocks from the Santa Cruz Ave. business district

  • Across the street from the upcoming Parkline amenities

  • A pleasant walk or bike ride along Alma St. to the many shops and jobs at Stanford and downtown Palo Alto

2. The Civic Center Parking Lots Offer More Space

The images below are the same scale. The image to the left shows the parking lots 1, 2, & 3. The image to the right shows four Civic Center parking lots. The numbers indicate the # of pixels (in 1,000’s) within each red space. The purpose is to show relative size. As you can see, these four Civic Center parking lots offer more space than the 3 downtown parking plazas.

A satellite map showing multiple red highlighted areas with black numbers on a city street grid, possibly indicating locations or zones, with a total pixel count of 209K at the bottom and overlay text referencing a pizzeria, Amici's East Coast Pizzeria, and other details.
An aerial view of a city park surrounded by roads and buildings. Several areas are highlighted in red with numerical labels: 20, 43, 76, and 80. The total pixel count at the bottom is 219,000 pixels.

3. It Opens the Door for a New Library & Children’s Center

In 2017-18, serious consideration was given to building a new library. One of the proposals included building the library on the Laurel St. side - perhaps including a new Children’s Center and Council Chambers as part of the project.

Talks eventually stalled and the idea was back-burnered. Mayor Peter Ohtaki was quoted as saying, “I think it is appropriate that we take our time and do this right.”

Is now the time to do it right? Using the Civic Center land for housing could be done in conjunction with a new library. For example, the old library and parking lot could be used for housing, while the north-east portion of the land (not including the Gatehouse) could be used for a new library, and possibly new council chambers. A new Children’s Center could be included as well, or moved to a different site if preferred.

Aerial view of a city park with labelled buildings and areas: Gatehouse, Children's Center + New Library, Council Chambers, City Hall Police Station, and two red shaded buildings with numbers 121 and 87. Total image pixels: 208K.

4. It’s a Greener Living Space

The Civic Center land provides a more pleasant, healthier place to live than above downtown parking lots.

View from Above a Downtown Parking Lot:

An aerial view of a commercial area with multiple flat-roofed buildings, parking lots filled with cars, and numerous trees interspersed among the structures, in a suburban setting.

View from Above a Civic Center Parking Lot:

Aerial view of a suburban park with a large grass field, a baseball diamond, a swimming pool, tennis courts, surrounding residential houses, and roads.

5. Why Not?

The 1,400 page Housing Element has one sentence, on page 276, about the Civic Center. It states: “The City Council decided not to pursue housing development in the parks or the Civic Center site, given the importance of green space and community space for all residents.” However, using Civic Center parking lots and/or upgrading old Civic Center buildings would deprive the community of neither green space, nor community space. So - why not?

What do you think?

Send a public email to: city.council@menlopark.gov