Editor,
Referring to Foster City’s decision to prevent left turns from Hillsdale Boulevard to Edgewater and Shell boulevards for your “pilot program,” we, the commuters who happen to use these public roads, are being singled out as the cause to a bigger problem.
I was born in, went to school in and work for San Mateo County but like thousands of others, cannot afford to live here so I commute. I do my part by carpooling. I did not create the housing shortage that commuters face each day. I was 8 years old when, in the 1970s, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors decided that this county did not need to allow BART down the Peninsula. Jack Foster’s master plan created the limited roads in his namesake city. No one back then anticipated the amount of growth in population and businesses we have now.
With this new restriction, this city is treating commuters as if we are not worthy of traveling within your city. I pay taxes in your city and in this county, and these taxes pay to improve public services including roads. You must know that the commuters you are preventing to use your public roads also frequent your businesses.
If Foster City is going to treat other residents as if they are not welcome because they do not live in Foster City then my hard-earned money will not be spent here. Creating barriers to people based on our differences seems to be in the news a lot these days. Hmmm. People, make your feelings known. Contact Norm Dorais, Public Works Director at (650) 286-3270 or trafficrelief@fostercity.org.
K. Williams
San Leandro
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(8) comments
It’s also a deliberate decision by Foster City, San Mateo etc to underbuild housing for decades even as they welcomed more and more office space, causing this crazy commute pattern. I don’t think it’s right or fair that you grew up here and can’t afford to live here and wish FC would take more of an interest in building housing for e.g the massive Visa office space development.
Well said...I see a definite divisiveness in the Nimby, Prop 13 sinners, entitlement genre homeowner vs, renters commuters vs, renters taxpayers around here..I try to watch my wording as I am a Prop. 13 entitled homeowner who built these schools roads around that the Yimbys promote as not paying their share of the taxes. This group didn't participate in any of the building they say is paying all the taxes now...Easier to divide and conquer as they say. Homeowner vs. renters divide all of us. commuters also.
Council is just trying to ease the traffic congestion during the peak hours. Many cities have left turns and right turns prohibited during certain times to avoid gridlocks. It is not a divide between residents and non-residents as left turns are barred for residents as well. Please do not construe council's attempt to find a solution to a traffic problem as hostility towards non-residents.
Please do nit ignore the use of homeowners as a name for non home owning residents alluding to those who are not homeowners. An comment from the candidate Martinez was the name homeowners and not using residents as a form of referring to people living here. I have one friend who says the homeowner comment prop 13 taxes, equity make him feel isolated living here. The commuter name and not residents makes those commuting feel they don't belong..I will try to consider watching how i refer to any people living here...Residents . There have been solutions referring to residents using a back door to exit . Another friend says S.M. has a group they all belong in the neighborhood. I thought and if you don't have a place to belong in their area how do you handle that one. This was a lesson for me and I was grateful my friends pointed these discrepancies out to me... KJ Williams is referring to the belong or not feeling. I think I know K.J. Williams..Well done sir!
What's next, a wall?
Seriously! You are complaining that a city is trying to ease traffic congestion from East Bay commuters cutting through and causing the residents that live there to endure a 20-40 minute wait to get to their homes. It is your choice to commute. Go find a job elsewhere if you don't like commuting. Or better yet tell all the high tech companies that have taken over the peninsula to build affordable workforce housing so people like you won't have to commute or spend much less time on the road. Quit blaming the cities and their residents for all your problems!
(Even if e.g. Visa or Oracle wanted to build workforce housing, where would Foster City or Belmont permit it to be built? The problem is the zoning and the City Councils that want office space and zero new housing.)
On their campuses. They have plenty of room and they can stack their own buildings higher rather than forcing cities to do it. You also don't seem to have a grip on the history of housing development here in California. I'm sure you are an ardent supporter of SB 50 which also ignores the history of regional housing development and sets a blanket blame on local cities without even addressing these high tech companies and greedy developers who are the one's creating this mess. I'm sure you are well aware of who supported Wiener's campaign to get him into power. All you YIMBY's just somehow conveniently ignore that fact. Your statement about city council's wanting all office and no housing is just plain wrong. Have you gone on Craig's list to see the amount of housing that is available? Plenty. Again we don't need to build more housing. It is here. Do some research on peninsula cities and housing development and vacancy rates. Most of these transit developments have many vacancies but are filling them up with short term corporate rentals instead of reducing their rent. Most of the cities, even without the mass funding from the redevelopment agencies are trying desperately to keep up with the suggested ABAG housing ratios. The developers are the ones balking at the BMR units that supposedly need to b built. Follow the money. Get rid of the greed of the developers and high tech CEO's and you get rid of the problem!
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