Palo Alto, Stanford heading for housing clash

What needs to happen is for Stanford to use STANFORD LAND to build a few affordable housing, high rise buildings which are environmentally and earthquake sound, within walking distance of the Stanford University Hospital.

This would enable hospital employees to walk to work, eliminating the need for more parking, protect the environment, and not infringe on the rights of Palo Alto residents. It would also be a good health benefit for the employees. Those not wishing to walk could ride bicycles, or if absolutely necessary, the University could supply a shuttle, much like they do now.

It is imperative that Stanford University become self-reliant and be a good neighbor for a change; instead of continually flaunting their elitist attitudes.

Our "bad neighbor" reputation already precedes us, and we need to change this, post haste!

Stanford is spending a fortune on architects, engineers, and beefed-up building specifications to make sure their new medical facilities are in compliance with SB 1953 to meet seismic safety standards. Seismic safety is one of the fundamental reasons cited to justify the massive new twin-tower high rise medical facilities.

The REAL question is, are all mission-critical Stanford medical EMPLOYEES positioned to comply with SB 1953; can they withstand the BIG ONE, then all promptly report unencumbered to work to help medically care for the rest of us in a regional emergency situation?

Stanford planners aren’t dumb enough to permit medical mission-critical employees to live where getting to work requires crossing bridges or viaducts or similar structures (all likely closed for inspection in the first hours and days after the BIG ONE), are they? Certainly Stanford planners have made provisions to provide nearby accommodations for at least mission-critical employees, right?

Then why isn’t Stanford PR putting our minds at ease on this issue? Saying, "Not fair, the Medical Center has no land" as Shelley Hebert, Stanford PR cries, is a bit unsettling. Remember the little kid saying, "The King has no clothes." What did that teach us?

Stanford not only has the land, as every village idiot can see, but it also has the financial wherewithal (billions of financial wherewithal) to make it happen, if it wants to (or is required to by City Council).

But Stanford seems hell bent on a PR drive to get us thinking our communities should "fairly" prepare to bear all the consequences because of all the wonderful things Stanford Medical accomplishes for our community, our region, our state, our nation, our world (and since Stanford undoubtedly has treated an astronaut or two, our galaxy).

Among the consequences...Stanford plans to endow us (surrounding communities) with 2,000 to 3,000 ADDITIONAL daily vehicle trips just so Stanford Medical and Shopping employees can get to the NEW jobs the massive Stanford projects will create.

Over half these new jobs will require below market rate (BMR) housing. Where does that housing go? Hopefully not Tracy, Tulare, Modesto and Fresno; because if it does, we get to handle all the traffic and environmental pollution their long distance trips will generate during set medical shift changes.

How many NEW daily trips will all the NEW VISITORS to the 2 million ADDITIONAL square feet Stanford Medical and Shopping facilities generate? You know it will be MANY TIMES the trips NEW employees will generate. Can you spell GRIDLOCK? Can you spell ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER?

Some very creative thinking needs to be applied to enable the massive Stanford proposals to be approved by Council in some form that doesn’t cause the rest of us, and our Earth, to choke trying to swallow the consequences.

What needs to happen is for Stanford to use STANFORD LAND to build a few affordable housing, high rise buildings which are environmentally and earthquake sound, within walking distance of the Stanford University Hospital.

This would enable hospital employees to walk to work, eliminating the need for more parking, protect the environment, and not infringe on the rights of Palo Alto residents. It would also be a good health benefit for the employees. Those not wishing to walk could ride bicycles, or if absolutely necessary, the University could supply a shuttle, much like they do now.

It is imperative that Stanford University become self-reliant and be a good neighbor for a change; instead of continually flaunting their elitist attitudes.

Our "bad neighbor" reputation already precedes us, and we need to change this, post haste!


What needs to happen is for Stanford to use STANFORD LAND to build a few affordable housing, high rise buildings which are environmentally and earthquake sound, within walking distance of the Stanford University Hospital.

This would enable hospital employees to walk to work, eliminating the need for more parking, protect the environment, and not infringe on the rights of Palo Alto residents. It would also be a good health benefit for the employees. Those not wishing to walk could ride bicycles, or if absolutely necessary, the University could supply a shuttle, much like they do now.

It is imperative that Stanford University become self-reliant and be a good neighbor for a change; instead of continually flaunting their elitist attitudes.

Our "bad neighbor" reputation already precedes us, and we need to change this, post haste!


Stanford has dug in and Palo Alto will give in. Resistance is futile. Debate is pointless.

Actually, Stanford does have the land, they can build housing on their land in the hills, on their golf course, or on the land surrounding Leland Stanford's historic stable. None of these are acceptable to either Stanford or Palo Alto. So, let's be practical, Stanford is running out of available land between Foothill Expressway and El Camino to build housing.

Stanford does indeed have the land.

Maybe they could force out Wilson Sonsinni or any of the other of the many businesses along Page Mill road.

Wait! I know, it could simply build in the dish area--no one would object to removing all that open space, now, would they?

How about it tears down Escondido Elementary and replace it with housing? Lots of good space there, and it all belongs to Stanford.

Stanford has an abundance of land.

Build the housing, and be done with it.

No need to traumatize Palo Alto with Stanford's "growing pains".

This reminds me of when I used to live on Stanford Ave. Stanford wanted to build some new dorms on Bowdoin St. (for some reason pronounced "Bode 'n"). They supposedly promised Stanford Ave. residents that the end of Bowdoin where it connects to Stanford Ave. would be blocked, so that the new traffic would not be going down Stanford. The project got approved and built, but the intersection never got blocked. The only way to get from Stanford Ave. to the shopping center or the medical complex is to go around the campus, either down El Camino or Junipero Serra. The campus is set up so that it can't be used as a thoroughfare. They even have all of their own traffic going out and around, through the neighboring communities, to get anywhere. You can bet whatever traffic that gets generated by this new project will be routed away from the campus.

You build more housing and over-crowd the schools!!!!

If Stanford can't house its people it shouldn't expand. Greed should not be the only motive in expansion.
They pretend to have noble intentions but Palo Alto is getting screwed to enable their grand plans.

Citizen--when you say "If Stanford can't house its people it shouldn't expand"--you seem to suggest that people who work at Stanford must live on site. this reminds me of the old "company towns", were workers were forced to live in the towns owned by the bosses and were forced to do all their shopping etc in said towns.
I would have thought that in this day and age, people could live wherever they pleased.Did Palo Alto require, in the past, that all employees of Sun/HP live in housing provided by the company? Does Fry's have to provide housing in PA for it's employees? Why the requirement for Stanford?
Also do not confuse the hospital remodel, which is necessitated by requirements for hospitals to be better able to stand an earthquake, with the expansion of the Stanford Shopping Center, which is being pushed by the city council in order to increase the tax revenue base of PA (so who is being greedy??)

I'm not suggesting anything of the kind. Creating some housing for thousands of new workers is simple common sense. No one will be forced to do anything. But it may be a preferable choice to an hour commute for many people.
Interesting that you call a BILLION dollar demolition and rebuilding plan a "remodel."
A PR approach like this confuses your preferences with the facts.

Citizen, perhaps you are not familiar with the 21st century version of hospitals, that are common in many parts of the western world. Stanford has decided that at this time when it must meet new code requirements would be a good time to rebuild the hospital/medical center so that it conforms to the what is expected from a 21st century health care center. Stanford has run the numbers and it is clear that the demolition/rebuild route is the best way to go, rather than trying to remodel the current structures. Feel free to nitpick my use of words, but in order for Stanford to continue to provide the kind of care expected from one of the leading hospitals in the world, major changes will be undertaken.
I know that this rankles many in PA, who see Stanford as some evil entity--but remember without Stanford Palo Alto would be Gary, Indiana.

Stanford worker,

>I know that this rankles many in PA, who see Stanford as some evil entity--but remember without Stanford Palo Alto would be Gary, Indiana.<

It is comments like this which give Stanford, and its' residents a bad name.

Quit being such an elitist snob!

Just because you work somewhere on campus doesn't make you any better than anyone else.

You certainly do not speak for me, or anyone I work with.

Another prof--not elitist attitude, but the truth. PA may not want to admit it, but it owes much of it's good fortune and wealth to Stanford.
Sorry you are against free speech also.

Palo Altans can distinguish the academic part of Stanford and the medical people who do such good work, from the development arm of the university.
The good comes from the first two, but the development departments are pretty evil and dishonest. Their interests are expansion, money, winning, fame, competition with other medical centers. Nothing to admire there.

"Palo Altans can distinguish the academic part of Stanford and the medical people who do such good work, from the development arm of the university.
The good comes from the first two, but the development departments are pretty evil and dishonest. Their interests are expansion, money, winning, fame, competition with other medical centers. "

This statement indicates a general ignorance of the intense competition - much of it cutthroat - that exists within the academic academic research communities at Stanford (including between Stanford and other communities).

It's simply wrong-headed, and non-thinking, to call the development arm "evil".

We do not know what the academic people think about the billion dollar expansion. They tend to be quiet. Not easy for people to disagree with their bosses.
I for one do not want to pay the price for other people's cutthroat competition, as you call it. And the dishonesties are visible to those who wish to see. The most recent is the statement that Stanford doesn't have land on which to build housing.

Why don't we expect HP, Cisco, or any other big Palo Alto employer to build housing for their staff? Oh yeah, we're grateful that they provide jobs. So Stanford hospital will employee the grads coming out of Foothill, DeAnza and other colleges and now we expect them to build subsidized housing for them too? Then I agree with the previous post -- use the big chunks of land that currently are used for Nixon and Escondido Elementary schools. Sure, they are used by 1000 Palo Alto families, but the land is Stanford's so if housing is important than maybe they should sacrifice the school site.

Palo Alto seems to have more whiners per capita than anywhere I know! Stop feeling so entitled.

Stanford University is not a bad neighbor. They work harder than any other business in Palo Alto to meet the requirements of the city and sustainability guidelines. The request to build the new hospital is frankly because we need a new hospital in terms of earthquake readiness but also in terms of modern medicine. Much of the hospital is 50 years old and the rest is 30 years old. Ask yourself - Has medicine changed in that time period? Of course it has and each of us would like to be cared for using the most modern techniques possible. There is no subliminal motive in the hospital expansion project. The motive is to build a modern hospital that is safe and sustainable, that is also competitive in the region -- otherwise it will not survive. It seems somewhat hypocritical to me for Palo Altans not to support the new hospital.

Palo Altans do not support the new hospital because they are against earthquake readiness or against modern medicine. The Stanford Hospital can be made earthquake safe and acquire new technology and equipment without growing in size. Palo Altans are against the hazardess traffic conditions and toxic air that will be created by a large development in this location. Stanford University has been buying land in Redwood City etc and putting up buildings. The Palo Alto Medical Center has cooperated in the building of a hospital on El Camino Real near Highway 85. Kaiser is building new hospitals in the area. The University is capable of finding a location - hopefully near the border of two cities as it serves the entire area, not only Palo Alto - and building a new hospital there.

Lester Snow, Director, California Department of Water Resources
Before the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Resources has some important things to say about the arid West - Web Link . We don't have the ground water or the rainfall to support these large developments. What is driving these new developments is the high price of the land. The water problem can be pushed down the road, onto the taxpayers.

Many Palo Altans do not support the new hospital because they see Stanford as the "evil empire" and with any development there is the whining about "too much traffic". PA has for years had a double standard with regard to Stanford as compared to other employers in the city. Certain members of our city council are openly hostile to Stanford. Stanford has done plenty to be a good neighbor--they run a free shuttle service, they build environmentally friendly buildings, they lease land for pennies to PA, they are moving many of the clinics to the old Excite-at-Home city in Redwood City etc. Still not matter what Stanford does, there will be those opposed to it, just because it is Stanford, the "evil empire" wanting something.