Thank you very much for this article. As the Santa Clara unhoused count approaches, Palo Alto is an outlier. Still has not recognized a long time unhoused neighbor and individual who froze to death u death under a Yale & Cambridge overhang on Feb 28 2022. Ironically the morning of the county unhoused count and too, the coldest night of the year.

He was an unhoused in our community for decades. Neat & tidy w his four wheeled, covered-cart.

Often seen reading the paper, or hunkering down at the soccer field. I am sorry that this city of PA ignores those subsisting on our streets.

Even the severely disabled in wheelchairs, a young man in front of WallGreens downtown. He’s been out there in his vans sneakers, crouched double over, asking politely for coins since forever. Our Palo Alto youth see it. Yet there are very little mechanisms for our youth to help or understand the severity of such disparity in a massively wealthy city. How? Mountain View is dealing, why not Palo Alto? Realistically crossing a street can throw one into Los Altos, Mountain View Palo Alto, Menlo Park or East PA. Is there a joint authority power that work in Partnership across city/county boundaries? How about working together to help ? Just a thought.

Why doesn't Palo Alto do more to assist its homeless population?

Every city in this vicintiy has a different amount of available "open space/empty wharehouses" to provide housing for the homeless - temporary during the winter months. Mountain View has a large amount of property east of 101 - Moffett Field with all of it's large hangers. Redwood City has many buildings that appear empty in the Seaport business area east of 101. Palo Alto's east of 101 preperty is the bay lands which are absorbing much of the current rainfall. That is the purpose of the baylands. Menlo Park has the VA buildings which could provie some shelter.

Palo Alto is built out to it's borders at every side of the city. The available space is on SU property. To me the question is what is SU doing to provide some relief at one of it's vacant buldings. That would be a great opportunity for the students to volunteer some time and energy during the winter months.

Mountain View is far more focused on assisting its homeless population than Palo Alto.

Why this is so is a question best left to Palo Alto residents and their city council.

A Mountain View-Palo Alto coalition is needed to ease the homeless crisis.

Utilizing the countless motels along ECR would provide a start in the right direction as the lodgings could be subsidized by the city coffers.

A homeless surtax on PA/MV residents could also provide additional funding for such an endeavor.

And once a certain ceiling is met via accomodations, the police could then be utilized to expel surplus transients from the city limits.

Mountain View has large companies that are telling it's employees to stay home. They are also moving their businesses to other states. They are also firing employees. There is a raft of RV issues in Mountain View in political litigation. MV is focused because their set of problems are in part self created. Why do people keep chiming in that are creating false comparisons.

"MV is focused because their set of problems are in part self created."

Isn't Palo Alto"s homeless problem self-created as well?