Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 49F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 49F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: April 12, 2026 @ 3:30 pm
Editor,
The March 8 issue of the Daily Journal included an article about Burlingame encouraging biotech development, and some discussion about what possible community benefits the city might ask for in exchange for city approval. Unfortunately, the discussion left out the elephant in the room — where will the future employees live?
Both South San Francisco and San Carlos are adding biotech to their cities and both recognize the potential impact on housing supply, but neither has a truly viable plan for addressing the issue. Looks like Burlingame could fall into that same category.
Biotech is a valuable industry in the age of COVID-19 and all the other medical issues humanity will face in the foreseeable future and deserves a space in San Mateo County, but unlike the social network and tech world of Facebook, Apple, Google, etc. it cannot run its business remotely. R&D research needs workers that must be physically present every day, which means commuting.
When negotiating community benefits with developers, cities should insist on a plan for housing the expected increase in employees. This doesn’t mean that the biotech companies need to actually build the housing, but they should work with the cities and both private and nonprofit developers to create a viable plan for providing the housing needed in a location that is convenient for commuting.
It is my hope that the cities get this message and insist on community benefits that include both affordable and market-rate housing in their approval process.
David Crabbe
San Carlos
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(1) comment
David, why not force these corporations to build housing? Just a plan means nothing if there is no skin in the game. Even our lame school boards are considering building housing for the staff and faculty. Google has actually tried it in Mountain View but the city for a strange reason did not want to rezone adjacent commercial property.
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