Lydia Kou: The Absurdity of Sacramento’s Housing Takeover Is Coming Home to Roost on the Peninsula

Palo Alto Online: Construction of educator housing is getting underway in Palo Alto

This article originally appeared in Palo Alto Online By: Zoe Morgan Local officials hold a ceremonial ground breaking this week With the tossing of ceremonial shovelsful of dirt, an educator housing project more than five years in the making officially broke ground in Palo Alto on Tuesday, Aug. 22. First proposed by Santa Clara County […]
San Mateo Daily Journal: Bureaucratic waste takes toll on many Bay Area workers

This article originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal By: Lydia Kou The politicians in Sacramento are racing to enact a new bridge toll hike that will cost workers commuting regularly across our Bay Area bridges up to an additional $375 every year — in addition to the $1,750 they pay now. And why force Bay […]
Palo Alto Online: Palo Alto Museum ‘breaks ground’ ahead of Roth Building restoration

This article originally appeared in Palo Alto Online. In a ceremony outside the historic Roth Building at 300 Homer Ave., which once housed the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, advocates of the museum celebrated the building’s restoration, set to begin in July. Following a series of speeches, representatives of the museum, the city, Santa Clara County, […]
Palo Alto Online: In Palo Alto, President Biden announces $2.6 billion for climate resilience, modernizing electrical grid

This article originally appeared in Palo Alto Online. President Joe Biden announced that his administration is investing more than $2.6 billion to fight climate change and to help communities become resilient during a stop at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center and Preserve in Palo Alto on Monday, June 19. Standing outside amid blustery […]
SF Chronicle: YIMBYs love to hate her. Inside one Bay Area mayor’s anti-housing campaign

Note from Lydia: “Anti-housing?” I am not anti-housing in any way. I am for housing that makes sense and against turning over all housing decisions to for-profit developers. That doesn’t make me “anti-housing” – it makes me pro-neighborhoods. But this article was fair on one point: it gave me room to communicate why a growing […]
Palo Alto Online: In ‘State of the City,’ Mayor Lydia Kou assails state housing mandates

This article was originally posted in Palo Alto Online. Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou took a swing on Wednesday at state housing mandates during her “State of the City” address and warned that recent laws could render the council helpless to prevent an onrush of large developments. Speaking in front of about 100 residents at […]
Palo Alto Daily Post Opinion: The Currys have the right to speak out

By: Lydia Kou Basketball legend Steph Curry recently sent a letter to local officials expressing concerns about how a new housing development near his Atherton home could impact the safety and privacy of his family. Social media swarmed at once. “How dare he,” was the collective response on Twitter, Facebook and beyond. You may, or may not, […]