SVI Winter 2016

Silicon Valley

Impressions Winter 2016

Celebrating Diversity, and Promoting Community Awareness, Understanding and Inclusiveness

The Crime Lab Interviews with Sandhill Property Founder Peter Pau, Dr. Kenneth Fong, and County Supervisor Joe Simitian 49er’s STEM Day at the Levi’s® Stadium Silicon Valley Arts: Silicon Valley Creates, Gregory and Angie Burns

Bay Area Housing: Crisis and Opportunities

and More...

ISBN 978-0-692-40495-9

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CONTENTS

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4 crime intelligence - Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory 8 our housing crisis and why we must work together to fix it - Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian

11 12 12 14 16 18 20 23 25 26 27 29 31 34 36 37

A DAY AT LEVI’S® STADIUM - CHEVRON STEM BOWL @ 49ERS MUSEUM PRESENTED BY SONY CUPERTINO HAS “FIRST WORLD” PROBLEMS - By Richard Lowenthal who is building what in silicon Valley bay area housing - By “The French Realtor” Catherine Hendricks SOCIAL ACTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING APAPA Leadership profile: Dr. kenneth fong BAY AREA HOUSING: DO WE HAVE A CRISIs? ARTS FOR ALL HUMANITY: SILICON VALLEY CREATES HEAVENLY SOUNDS UNDERGROUND INVESTING IN SILICON VALLEY COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE - By Marian Chaney, Your Realtor for Life!

CALIFORNIA SENIOR LEGISLATURE (CSL) - 35YEARS OF SUPPORTING SENIOR LEGISLATION dressing up SILICON VALLEY: Interview with Peter Pau, founder of Sand Hill Property Company kiss the ground you walk on Eco-friendly and comfortable floor technologies the silicon valley studio: gregory burns and angie tan-burns SHARE THE LOVE OF MUSIC: An instrument donation program to benefit East Palo Alto Schools LESS IS MORE: THE TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT

Cover photo: Lawrence/Monroe development in Santa Clara by James Gong

Our Magazine can be found at the following locations. For complete list of distributors please visit www.siliconvalleyimpressions.com

Submit letters and articles to the following address: info@OpenSocietyMedia.com Silicon Valley Impressions,20111 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite #280, Cupertino, CA 95014 Silicon Valley Impressions Team Don Sun | Publisher Beverly Lenihan | Editorial Advisor Ling Ling Kulla | Editor James Gong | Chief Photographer Ragini Sangameswara | Graphic Designer Elizabeth Softky | Copy Editor and Proof-reader

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the writers and interviewees. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

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CRIME INTELLIGENCE SANTA CLARA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S CRIME LABORATORY

Fire test - photo by Supervising Criminalist John Bourke

T

he mission of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory is to “provide accurate scientific services that meet the needs of the criminal justice community in the most efficient manner possible. The Crime Laboratory has earned and will maintain its reputation for impartiality, integrity, and excellence through open communication, objective evaluation of evidence, and active participation in the forensic science profession.

We are proud to be advocates for justice by pursuing truth through science.”

The Crime Laboratory is deeply rooted in the community and its work affects many aspects of the community. During 2014, a total of 1,586 cases were submitted to the Crime Laboratory, resulting in 2,600 criminalistics requests. Cases were received from the Police

Departments of Campbell, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Santa Clara.

In 1991, a 26-year-old accountant named Julie Bucalo was found dead, handcuffed on her waterbed, inside her locked one-bedroom cottage. During the initial investigation, a security guard who worked in the same building as the victim, Ralph Baldenegro, was brought up on charges, but there was no evidence that he was present when she was murdered.

Police pursued other leads, but noting solid emerged. It was filed away as a “cold case”.

Twenty-three-years later, in 2014, the case was re-examined. The biological evidence under the victim’s fingernails and from her shirt were linked to Baldenegro.

He was finally brought to justice

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Crime Lab Director Ian Fitch

for Julie’s murder, ending his long history of attacks on women.

The Forensic Biology/DNA unit in The Santa Clara County District Attoney’s Crime Laboratory has solved other old cases, some dating back to the 1970’s by using today’s technology.

Aside from numerous movies and novels relating to solving crime, the public actually knows very little about this area of science.

The Crime Laboratory is accredited to international standard ISO/ IEC17025 by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/ Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), and has international accreditation in a multiplicity of disciplines.

The Crime Laboratory has many units utilizing various scientific methods to solve crime, including:

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A crime lab with various equipment

The Crime Scene Unit - can be called by any law enforcement agency to be present at a crime scene to search for and collect evidence, as well as documenting the crime.

The Forensic Biology/DNA Unit analyses DNA from blood, semen, saliva, hair, fingernails, or pieces of skin, and compares them with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s DNA database.

The Comparative Evidence Unitis comprised of the Firearms and Latent Print Processing sections.

The Firearms section compares firearms to spent ammunition collected at crime scenes, performs distance determinations, calculates bullet trajectories, and recovers serial numbers from firearms.

The Toxicology Unit - is responsible for determining the level of alcohol and/or drugs in biological samples. During 2014, it analyzed a total of 12,211 cases. The laboratory receives blood alcohol, urine alcohol, and drug cases from police departments in Santa Clara County, as well as the Coroner’s office, the Sheriff’s office, colleges and

universities, and the California Highway Patrol.

Chemistry/Trace - Since 2009, this laboratory has been actively working to reestablishing a full service trace evidence program. In 2014, analysts completed training in both glass and paint analyses.

Santa Clara County now has one of the most complete trace evidence sections in California. The unit can analyze an assortment of evidence, including hair, fiber, glass, paint, ignitable liquids, gunshot residue, and miscellaneous chemicals.

experiments provided knowledge about what kind of evidence gives forensic results (scientific tests or techniques used in connection with the detection of crime) following a fire. This information allows better samples to be submitted to the laboratory, making the entire system more efficient.

During 2014, a total of 5,487 cases were submitted to this unit from Police Departments in Santa Clara County, the Sheriff’s department, California Highway Patrol as well as colleges and universities.

Digital/Multimedia Evidence Unit: With the increased amount of computer, financial , and other digital crimes, computers have become important sources of evidence. In 2014, due to the wide use of cell phones, they too,have become a major source in solving crimes. Digital and Multimedia Evidence Unit personnel are trained in data acquisition and recovery from various devices to see that justice is done.

Playing with Fire: The trace evidence section, with the assistance of the Santa Clara County Fire Investigation Task force, in January 2014, did a fire experiment to give criminalists the opportunity to conduct experiments on how different types of evidence react to being exposed to fire. The information obtained from the fire

Camera ready: In August of 2012, 24-year-old Juan Munoz walked into a Safeway supermarket in San Jose and never walked out. In the produce section of the store, minutes after he arrived, he was confronted and fatally stabbed once by an ex-coworker, 27-year-old Michael Howard. The confrontation was caught on video, so there

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was no question of the identity of the killer. However, the case hinged on the intent of the perpetrator.

All surveillance video from the store’s forty-three cameras was sent to the Video Analysis lab. Criminalist Cordelia Willis was able to track the locations of Munoz and Howard during their time in the store. A video and maps were compiled using numerous camera views, showing the movements of each of the two subjects in real-time to assist jurors in understanding where the subjects were in relation to each other.

The jury got to watch the disparate activities of the two involved: Howard, as he calmly went about

his shopping, and Munoz, pacing the back aisle with the knife in his pocket before attacking Howard from behind and stabbing him once in the heart. The jury eventually found Howard guilty of second degree murder. The video was invaluable in showing the actual events leading up to the crime.

For the Sherlock Holmes at Heart: Generations have been inspired to be the next Sherlock Holmes by popular literature, movies or TV shows featuring scientists working behind the scenes in crime analysis.

But be warned - jobs are scarce.

The discipline requires intensive training as well as on-the-job experience. Each year, San Jose

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State University graduates about forty forensic scientists. However, the Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory only has three-to-four positions open each year, which is typical of most crime labs in the United States. On top of that, most of the local criminalists remain on the job for a long time. This career can be highly rewarding, but anyone who wants to get into this field must think twice about job availability. ~ Source for this article: Santa Clara County DA Crime Laboratory Annual Report by Criminalist Cordelia Willis and Crime Laboratory Director Ian Fitch, PhD.

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Traditional Beijing style cooking, hot pot,

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“Dear Parents, Do Not Fill Out FAFSA & CSS Until You Fully Understand The Very Complicated Rules of Financial Aid and IRS Tax... “ How to avoid the deadliest mistakes in applying for college financial aid?

Parents, do you fit in any of the financial situation below: • High Income with High Assets • High Income with Normal Assets • Low Income with High Assets • Didn’t get or only got some financial aid after you submitted FAFSA/CSS Parents, when you fill out FAFSA “as is”, for sure, you cannot get college financial aid.

Our Suggestions: 1. If your family income is over $300,000 and you only have one child or two children four years apart---you should focus on saving taxes by setting up a Family Foundation.

2. For the rest of the families, please don’t fill out FAFSA with an “as is” financial situation.

You should listen to a financial aid professional’s audio to understand the basic rules of Financial Aid, then position your family’s net income MAGI & net assets accordingly before filling out FAFSA/CSS. http://www.4089962002.com/Audio_Clips.php Parents, without preparation, for sure you cannot get college financial aid.

Michael Chen College Financial aid & Tax Planning Specialist, Finacial Planner

When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.

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Sucessful Cases: Case 1: Family Income over $300,000 An engineer’s family, after exercised its stock options (RSU), had income over $400,000. After setting up a Family Foundation, they saved $50,000 in taxes and can use this $50,000 for their retirement and for college.

Case 2: High Income with Normal Assets An IT engineer’s family had a W-2 income around $200,000. As most parents, they never thought they would qualify for financial aid, through our FinAid tax planning, they have reduced $100,000 net AGI income.

Each year they receive $40,000 financial aid and also $34,000 tax refund.

Case 3: Low Income with High Assets A business owner with 5 rental properties had filled out FAFSA on their own and their application for financial aid was rejected. After getting planning, help and guidance from us, their child received $30,000 financial aid from UC’s and saved $120,000 for four years.

Consult with us to avoid making mistakes.

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Our Housing Crisis and Why We Must Work Together to Fix it Santa Clara County Supervisor

S

anta Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian is a familiar figure in the community. He serves the 5th district, representing Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, and portions of Sunnyvale and San Jose. Making his “sidewalk office hours” in local Farmer’s markets, he conducts one-on-one interactions with community members in an informal manner, discussing issues and questions. Making sure that the county operates efficiently, and effectively uses public funds, he has helped provide many widely available services at no or low cost.

As a County Supervisor, he has three focuses: 1. Making sure the county operates efficiently and responsibly with public funds.

2. Working to make sure that the County implements the Affordable Care Act in a thoughtful and robust way to serve the public well.

3. Ensuring that the public or constituents are well served in his district. On the Board of Supervisors, Joe serves as Chair of The Finance and Government Operations Committee, and Vice Chair of the Health and Hospital Committee. He has implemented measures to make sure that the County has available healthcare services for residents, such

Joe Simitian

as getting hospitals to provide contracted services, providing more urgent care clinics, and implementing good business management practices to help the county hospital to run efficiently.

His next healthcare goal is to find better mental health services for local children and teens by allocating hospital rooms for these patients who currently have to go to out-of-area hospitals such as Contra Costa County or even Sonoma County for in-patient mental health care.

In this issue, we interviewed Joe about the housing crisis in Silicon Valley to get his point view of possible areas for improvement.

Joe Simitian: The job-housing imbalance in Silicon Valley is a challenge we cannot solve exclusively at the local level. At the local level, residents feel the pressure of high costs in housing, but they don’t want more development either. They don’t want to have high density population in their cities, but they are against urban sprawl. The justification is that many new developments are created for the high-income population displacing the low-income population out of the new housing development.

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Under California Proposition 13 law, it makes more economic sense, in a short term, for cities to approve retail and business than it does for housing. New housing development creates demand for schools, libraries, roads and other public services. So it’s more difficult for the city to approve new housing than to approve new businesses.

Businesses create jobs, therefore, over time, on a regional basis, we’ve created a tremendous job/ housing imbalance. In the 90s, the job to housing ratio was six-to-one. At that time we had a housing crisis, too. Today, we are getting close to that crisis again.

For example, Palo Alto has three jobs per housing unit. That’s why housing is so expensive there.

SVI: What do you think we need to solve our housing crisis?

Joe Simitian: Without a larger regional and statewide effort to balance the job-housing demands, leaving it to individual cities to make decisions based on their own short-term interests will accelerate the significant job-housing imbalance that we see today.

The regional level association of bay area governments, RHNA, (Regional Housing Need Assessment) quantifies the need for

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housing within each jurisdiction during specified planning periods.

It’s not a very effective system.

It creates lots of aggravation and frustration that the community struggles with. With its mandate, there are more plans, but no housing. Ultimately, the long term, big picture solution has to come at the state level, but that won’t be quick.

bought a home in Palo Alto. Mary Hewlett’’s father, Bill Hewlett, CEO of Hewlett Packard, bought a house in Palo Alto. Palo Alto at that time was not ethnically diverse, but was genuinely economically diverse. Today, that economic diversity is hard to come by and hard to maintain because those who we consider are making a good living cannot afford homes here.

We need to have a replacement for the affordable housing funds that were lost when redevelopment agencies went out existence a few years ago. The state has been slow to respond to that need. The private sector, in time, will respond to create more housing, but the market is not equipped to provide the range of affordable housing that the community and the region needs in order to have a balance.

SVI: Is there any policy from the government level can provide help?

SVI: Do you think it is the private sector’s responsibility to offer affordable housing?

Joe Simitian: Our problems are unusual in that our housing crisis is being caused by the fact that we have too many jobs. In other parts of the country, especially the Northeastern United States, the Great Lakes, and the Midwest States, it’s hard to fathom and say no to high skill and high paying jobs in our community because they are driving up prices of

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housing and cost of living. “There

are people in the community who want Google and Facebook to go to other parts of the country and create jobs there. However, we also know that we have an abundance of jobs and economic activities that are not benefiting all sectors of society.”

We need to do better at linking job creation and housing. It’s difficult to ask Facebook and Google to build two million square feet of facilities, and then ask these companies to build 3,000 houses for jobs they create. However, we may see that change because the situation is so dire that the companies may provide their own solution to house their own employees. But even that is not enough to solve a region-wide crisis.

Joe Simitian: If we want a permanent supply of affordable housing that accommodates every income level, we have to do some affordable housing development with the help from the government. It is the government’s job to focus on production and preservation of affordable housing. It’s not the private sector’s responsibility to provide affordable housing.

They need to do what is profitable for them to do, which is to provide housing for higher income levels.

I grew up in Palo Alto. My father was a high school teacher, and he bought our home in Palo Alto with his single income. My best friend’s father was a mechanic at SLAC National Accelerator Lab, and he also bought a house in Palo Alto. The father of our classmate, Joy Nicholas, a the daughter of a custodian at Palo Alto High School S I L I C O N VA L L E Y I M P R E S S I O N S | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

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Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian meets people at the local farmer’s market

Many years ago we had company towns. Forward thinking companies who want to grow their businesses need their employees to live near their work. It’s a matter of economic robustness that we have a place to live, we have sound transportation practices, and not force people to drive hours from great distances to fight traffic and work here.

~ In our last issue, we interviewed Cupertino’s Mayor Sinks about transportation in the Valley. He is working on a multi-city effort to establish a public transportation network. Maybe we will see a similar joint-effort by other cities to solve our housing needs.

We all need to be more creative, more open, and we need to work together.

It is also a public safety issue. What happens when we have an earthquake or floods?

The telephone-line repair man, the PG&E lineman, the cable man, the nurses, the fire fighters, the paramedics that serve our region all live in Tracy. It will take them hours to get to us in case of catastrophes. We have priced them out.

- Joe Simitian

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LEVI’S® STADIUM - CHEVRON STEM BOWL 49E R S MUSEUM PRESENTED BY SONY

A DAY AT

@

A

bout 400 Bay Area 4th - 8th grade students gathered at Levi’s® Stadium on December 9th, 2015 for the Chevron STEM Bowl, presented by the 49ers Foundation and KPIX 5. Building on the 49ers existing commitment to supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education through an extensive field trip program hosted by the 49ers Museum presented by Sony, and the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute, the Chevron STEM Bowl is an educational program for Bay Area children, promoting classroom, as well as hands-on education.

The 49ers STEM Education Program, the Denise DeBartolo Education Center and Chevron STEM ZONE, which opened along with Levi’s® Stadium in 2014, are sup-

ported by Chevron corporation and the 49ers Foundation.

the Common Core and Next Generation Standards.

The multi-faceted day of learning included exploring the museum, a Levi’s® Stadium STEM-focused tour, a movement lab, and a STEM lesson that leveraged football as a platform to connect, inspire and engage the students.

The 49ers STEM Education Program was established in July, 2014 by the San Francisco 49ers Foundation, Chevron, Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVeF), and the Santa Clara Unified School District. Currently, 120 7th and 8th graders explore learning opportunities at the Chevron STEM ZONE at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara. This six-year program will expand into Santa Clara High School in Fall 2016.STEM day

There were eight activity stations and students rotated every thirty minutes, enabling them to experience all elements of the day. Stations included: Solar Energy 101, Wireless Technology 101, LEED Design 101, Football Forces 101, Stadium Design 101, Career Connections 101, Football Math 101, and Game Day Motion 101. The experience was aligned with both

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Cupertino has First World Problems

By RICHARD LOWENTHAL

C

ompared to global issues of terrorism, nationalism, climate change, fragile economies, unemployment, and accommodating Syrian refugees, Cupertino’s problems don’t seem so bad.

Issues in Cupertino stem from having booming employment and great schools.

The biggest challenge we have is Apple’s success. Apple Campus 2 will bring 12,000 new jobs to Cupertino. The jobs are good; the customers it brings to our retail businesses are good; the tax income it brings to Cupertino is good; and then there’s the traffic, and that’s not so good.

The other big problem we have is that everyone wants to live

here and have their kids go to our local schools. That’s because our elementary schools, high schools, and De Anza College are among the best in our state and the nation.

Those schools are attracting more families and more traffic - our population has increased by more than 7% in the last five years.

Our school districts have done a masterful job of continuing to improve in the face of population growth. In fact, the more people that live here, the better our kids do and our schools continue to improve in State performance rankings.

We are fortunate indeed to be a great place to work and a great place to go to school, but it leaves

us with a big traffic challenge. We have three options to deal with traffic: 1) Don’t allow new people to come to Cupertino to live or work, 2) Accept worsening traffic, or 3) Come up with innovative ways to address the traffic problem.

We should embrace our success in job creation and education but address the traffic challenge. We must invest in transit and smart growth. We should expect our city leaders to balance homes and jobs to shorten commutes, and add transit options so that we stop clogging our roads. The most promising transit options for us are shuttles and rail, and we need leadership from our city and county officials to bring us those traffic solutions.

WHO IS BUILDING WHAT in silicon valley We have compiled a list of residential sites that are in planning or construction. The list consists of only 100 units and above developments.

CUPERTINO Address Main Street

Developer Sandhill Property

Number of units 120 Apts.

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CONSTRUCTION Zone

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MOUNTAIN VIEW Address 400 San Antonio Road 2268 El Camino 1984 W. El Camino Real 1720 W. El Camino Real 801 W. El Camino Real 865 E. El Camino Real 100 Moffet Blvd., 500 Ferguson Drive

Developer Prometheus Lennar UDR Prometheus Greystar Lennar Prometheus EFL Development

Number of Units 605 Apts.

204 Multi-family Units 160 Apts.

162 Apts.

164 Apts.

150 Units residential 184 Apts.

394 Apts.

Developer BHV Center Street Properties Silicon Sage Builders

TMG/Regis Homes Bay Area

Number of units 185 Apts.

93 Condos 785 residential units 2214 residential units 1001 residential units 157 residential Units

Developer Prometheus Essex Property Summerhill homes The Irvine Company Prometheus Citation Homes Summerhill homes

Number of units 222 residential units 476 residential units 110 single family, 165 senior Apts.

825 Apts 793 Housing Units 133 Apts.

186 Apts.

Address 1095 W. El Camino Real

Developer Sobrato

Units 175

1120 Kifer 2502 Town Center Lane 311 Capella 660 W. El Camino Real 1044 East Duane 1101 N. Fair Oaks Ave. 455 Mathilda Ave. 457-475 E. Evelyn Ave 520 E. Weddell 610 E. Weddell 620 E. Maude 710 E. Evelyn Ave 871 E. Fremont Ave 915 De Guigne 955 Stewart

Greystar Real Estate Quattro Realty Group BRE Properties Summerhill Homes Taylor Morrison St. Anton Partners Urban Housing Group Prometheus Raintree Partners SRGNC MF Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition DR Horton De Anza Properties Watt Investments Irvine Company

535 292 280 103 132 97 105 117 465 205 121 affordable housing 192 160 451 186

FREMONT Address 37070 Fremont Blvd., 42111, 42183 Osgood Road Valley Oak’s Old Warm Spring Blvd Lennar Warm Springs Toll Bros Warm Spring Village State Street

Lennar

SANTA CLARA Address 45 Buckingham Dr. 66 N. Saratoga Ave. 3610 and 3700 El Camino Real 90 N. Winchester Blvd., 3515-3585 Monroe St. 900 Kiely Blvd., 3229 El Camino Real 2611-2655 El Camino Real

SUNNYVALE

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B AY A R E A H O U S I N G : A R E A LT O R ’ S V I E W R elocation specialist and realtor

Catherine Hendricks calls herself “The French Realtor”. Catherine has helped her clients get settled into their new lives in Silicon Valley for over fifteen years.

Having relocated from France, Catherine brought with her an extensive background in public relations and marketing communications. Today, she is known as a great listener and highly-valued partner in any real estate transaction, especially among the expat community in Silicon Valley.

Over the years, Catherine has gathered an extensive network of professionals such as lawyers, bankers, and mortgage and insurance brokers around her, giving her a complete set of experts to help her clients navigate the Silicon Valley real estate market.

Catherine works and resides with her family in Palo Alto, and is very involved in her community. We interviewed her to learn about how the real estate market has been doing in past years, and where she sees it heading next.

On the so-called ”Bubble” and why this market is so different: “With some variations of course, the real estate market as it is today has existed on and off for the past fifteen years. Yes, there was a kind of a rough patch for the market in 2008-2009, but what it really meant, here in Silicon Valley, is

that prices stabilized instead of dropping.

To understand this market better, you have to realize that the San Francisco Bay limits the size of land available for housing. Still, people from all over the world come here every day, attracted by tech companies like Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Square, Box, as well as Stanford University.

They’re also enticed by the good schools and an amazing quality of life. According to a new Employment Development Department report, the Bay Area added 17,300 jobs during October 2015.

At the same time, you also have a population that has been living in Silicon Valley for 60 years or so, who were able to buy their homes for what would be considered a steal today, many going for between $20,000 to $30,000.

These homes are worth two to three million dollars right now.

However, most of these owners won’t sell because they are afraid of the capital gains taxes they would have to pay. There are ways to ease these concerns, but most people resist consulting professionals regarding this issue. Another concern is where would they move to if they wanted to stay in the Bay Area after selling their home.

Another issue for the market is the existence of so-called “ghost towns”. In some neighborhoods,

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many expensive homes have been purchased for cash, yet nobody lives in them, and they have no renters. One explanation is that in Asia especially, these homes are usually considered a good investment, and an easy way to access good schools in the United States.

However, all these houses sitting empty have taken away housing for people who live and work here and, in the meantime, making real estate prices sky rocket.

For all these reasons, the real estate inventory in Silicon Valley is very limited, and often leads to multiple offers on homes with upwards of 20 to 30% price increases in some communities.

Are there tips on when or how to find good deals?

“Like everywhere else, the market also works in cycles, with ups and downs. From late November to late January, before the Superbowl, homes tend to stay longer on the market, with sometimes lower prices. I know that a lot of people take a ”break” from real estate during that time, but for buyers, it may be a good idea to keep looking for a home when there is less competition around. From February until summer, the market usually goes back up, with the usual slowdown in August.

Then there is the “off market” phenomenon, where a home does not get listed on the official

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realtors’ database (the Multiple Listing Service). A limited number of realtors know about the trend and are in charge of finding potential buyers. It is usually not recommended, as there is way less visibility for the seller. There are no open houses for example, and the house may be marketed to a smaller number of buyers.

However, once again, with less competition among buyers, if you are lucky you might find a hidden gem.

Another solution for buyers is to have a longer commute, and I see many people now living in San Carlos, Oakland or even Danville, in order to be able to afford bigger properties for less. This, of course, creates traffic for our community.

Who are your clients and what are they looking for?

“Many of my clients are firsttime owners in the United States, meaning they are expats who usually already own property in their home country. They get transferred here by their company, or come on their own to find a new job. They then discover the reality of the rental market in Silicon Valley and often want to buy a home, which can prove difficult for them. The prices are steep, of course, but also, as expats, most of these future owners do not have any credit history here to help them get a loan. Europeans are also sometimes surprised by the wooden construction of the houses in California.

I also have Millennials as clients.

These are younger childless couples who usually want to find a home close to shops, restaurants, and mass transit, with the possibility of walking everywhere. They tend to buy condos or townhouses, around downtowns like Castro

Street in Mountain View. They usually start looking for something they can’t afford, with a budget of $800,000 to $1,000,000, then change their minds, especially since between Menlo Park and Mountain View, these type of properties tend to go for $1,200,000 and up, depending on size and location.

Then you have people with children who come to the Peninsula for it’s great schools, and familyoriented communities. Many recently relocated European or Asian families look for townhouses in communities with services like pools or tennis courts, or for detached houses in soughtafter neighborhoods. Their budget might go up to $1,600,000 when they start, but in reality, prices for the type of home they are looking

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for range from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. ” What do you think will happen in the next two years?

“Interest rates are going to go up, which will affect some segments of the market. Also, the up-coming elections plus anticipated tax reforms could have a substantial impact on the market. Besides, as I mentioned before, the Valley needs to expand, and it can’t do so in the Peninsula or in San Francisco, for obvious geographical reasons.

But there’s already a trend of tech companies moving to Oakland, and a lot of people don’t hesitate to commute from the East Bay, the San Joaquin Valley or even Santa Cruz. I think in the next few years we are going to see a lot more of these trends.”

Silicon Valley Builds on

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Social Action for Affordable Housing

T

he current region-wide housing crisis has left many medium-tolow income families unable to rent or buy a house. Many of the area’s professional population, including teachers, firefighters, and nurses, have been priced-out, leaving them with no alternatives except purchasing affordable homes that are hours away from where they work.

Not only they are losing precious time with their families with long commutes, but communities are being put at risk when emergency personnel don’t live close by.

This large displacement cannot go unaddressed. Here are ten social action organizations in the Bay Area who are taking a stand for these invaluable community members.

Urban Habitat: promotes affordable housing near job and public transit areas, organizes against displacement of low-income households, seeks economic and social justice for minority populations in cities ,and advocates for rent control. http://urbanhabitat.org Peninsula Interfaith Action: holds public hearings to increase

Art work by Melissa Klein

affordable housing units in San Mateo; supported affordable housing at the former Bay Meadows race track site; supported the opening of 89 units of low cost family housing and a full range of services for people at risk; won $18 million for the Santa Clara County Office of Affordable Housing. www.piapico.org/aboutus.html Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment: promotes changes in housing policy in Oakland, helps protect homeowners facing foreclosures, and advocates for tenants fighting increasing rents and unstable

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housing conditions. www.acceaction.org Residents Insisting on Social Equity for Fremont: RISE is a coalition of 52 organizations representing more than 28,000 Fremont families. RISE advocates stronger renters’ protections such as rent control and just cause for eviction. www.risefremont.org The Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County: promotes the building and preservation of quality affordable homes.

HLCSMC is a strong advocate for Development Impact Fees and

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commercial linkage fees. www. hlcsmc.org The Palo Alto Housing Corporation: develops, acquires, and manages low and moderate income housing in the Bay Area such as the City of Palo Alto’s Below Market Rate (BMR) Program. Currently, they oversee development and/or acquisition of over 600 units of rental housing. www.paloaltohousingcorp.org First Community Housing (FCH): is a Public Benefit Housing Development Corporation. FCH has provided more than 1,300 units of affordable rental housing throughout the San Francisco Bay area for low-income families and individuals, senior citizens, and special needs populations such as the chronically ill, the mentally impaired and the developmentally disabled. www.firsthousing.com

The Housing Trust of Silicon Valley: provides loan and downpayment assistance for low and moderate income home buyers; provides loans for developers building affordable rental units for seniors, working families, the homeless, special needs population, and individuals and families moving from homelessness or unsuitable housing into permanent sustainable housing. It has facilitated over 20,000 affordable housing opportunities from Palo Alto to Gilroy. www.housingtrustsv.org East Bay Housing Organizations: (EBHO) is an interfaith organization working to preserve and replace affordable housing resources lost through the elimination of redevelopment agencies in early 2012. EBHO advocates for dedicated statewide affordable housing funds, and promotes Tenant Protection Ordinance and

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Just Cause Evictions. Its Residents United Network (RUN) aims to create a statewide advocacy movement for affordable homes. http://ebho.org The UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project: is a research and action initiative of the university in collaboration with researchers at UCLA, community based organizations, regional planning agencies and the State of California’s Air Resources Board.

The project aims to understand the nature of gentrification and displacement in the Bay Area. It focuses on creating tools to help communities identify the pressures surrounding them and take more effective action.” www.urbandisplacement.org

Residents, affordable housing advocates, workers, faith-leaders, and community members gathered to demand a strong housing impact fee in Oakland! Courtesy: East Bay Housing Organizations

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APAPA LEADERSHIP PROFILE: DR. KENNETH FONG Dr. Kenneth Fong, Ph.D, is the Chairman and Founder of Kenson Ventures, LLC, a venture capital firm that provides funds and strategic advice to biotechnology start-ups and companies. Prior to this, Dr. Fong founded Clontech Laboratories in 1984, a molecular biology company that grew to 400 employees, with annual revenues of $80 million dollars before merging with Becton Dickinson in 1999.

He received a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry at San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. degree in molecular biology at Indiana University.

Dr. Fong is also is a dedicated philanthropist and community activist. He has volunteered much of his time and resources to promoting cultural understanding of Asian Americans. He is the secretary of APAPA’s (Asian Pacific Islander Public Affaris Association)national board. He supports the 80-20 Initiative, a non-partisan organization whose mission is to win fair representation of Asian Americans in political appointments.

He also supports local educational and cultural institutions through donations to the Y.C. Fung Bioengineering Auditorium at U.C. San Diego, scholarships at San Francisco State University, the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, and the senior service agency, Self-Help for the Elderly.

Dr. Fong was a trustee of the California State University system from 2006 to 2013.

Dr. Fong helped select three presidents of Asian descent for California State universities from

lung and skin cancer, patients now have higher survival rates, and the treatments have much less side effects. The extension of immunotherapy to a greater number of cancers will most likely result in higher survival rates and tolerable levels of side effects.

SVI: What are your biggest achievements?

Dr. Fong: My former company, Clontech, provides technology for isolation of genes. This helped people working in biotech 2012 to 2014. He also promised a matching fund to build a monument to study genes involved in disease formation. Our technology was at Gold Run, a former settleused in the biomedical communiment of early Chinese laborers ty such as universities and biomedin California, to recognize and ical companies. Armed with the commemorate those who lost their knowledge of human and animal lives during the construction of genes, today the industry is able the United States Transcontinental to develop new treatments and Railroad 150 years ago. medicines.

SVI: You have spent your entire After that, I spent fifteen years career in biotech. What do you think are its biggest achievements? as a venture capital investor, working with the next generation of entrepreneurs to build and Dr. Fong: One of the biggest develop their companies in the achievements in biotech is personbiotech field. I used what I learned alized medicine, which treats from my own experiences to help patients with specific drugs based on the individual’s genetic makeup. potential entrepreneurs succeed. I have since helped cultivate quite In the past, cancer patients used a few entrepreneurs to develop the same kind of drugs regardless of their genetic profile. Cancer their companies successfully (six mergers and acquisitions and two treatments involve small molecule IPOs). This is gratifying to me drugs, chemical therapies, and because these successful entrepreradiation. These treatments are neurs are in turn helping other designed to eliminate cancer cells, but also killed lots of healthy cells. younger people to be successful entrepreneurs, and the cycle repeats itself.

Side effects from these treatments often make cancer patients lives miserable. In the past, most cancers I am also very involved in community work - it’s a natural were treatable, but not curable.

With the development of immunon- extension of my career. I use the same result-oriented business cology using antibody therapy to approach. I would target a specific target specific cancers, especially

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project, assess the probability of reaching the pre-set goals and then I keep focused on those goals.

Community work requires the similar kind of skill set and leadership as in business to succeed. The only difference is that you don’t get a paycheck.

SVI: What do you look for when you select companies to invest in?

Dr. Fong: I invest in people. I look for people who have the following five characteristics: Energy: I invest in people with high energy. In the competitive field of technology and business, one needs to work long hours and tirelessly pursue perfection. Without energy, it is hard to advance further.

Competence: I invest in the people who are among the best in their fields.

Focus: To succeed, one must be focused and strive to be number one or two in the chosen niche market.

Persistence: A person with passion is persistent and keeps coming back despite failure.

Leadership: Good leaders have vision and charisma. They can attract people to follow him or her.

The higher the vision, the bigger the business.

SVI: What do you think makes Silicon Valley unique?

Dr. Fong: Silicon Valley, and increasingly, San Francisco, are the epicenters of the knowledgebased revolution that has produced household names like Apple, Google, Facebook, Intel, Cisco, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

No other place in the world had this monopoly of distinction on such a

massive scale within a generation.

The knowledge based revolution needs a large supply of engineers and scientists. India and China happen to provide a large supply chain for Silicon Valley to tap into.

It is at the right place and the right time in history that this confluence of opportunities and supply of intellectual labor forces meet.

As in the past, the immigrants always showed up in America, and America has the heart and tradition to welcome them to create opportunities for all the world to enjoy.

Indian and Chinese immigrants share many similarities. The younger immigrants, armed with the knowledge of the newest technologies, are hard-working and ambitious to create new enterprises.

Nearly 40% of the new companies here are started by either Indian or Chinese immigrants. There are also differences. Indians are represented in much higher managerial positions than the Chinese because they speak English before they arrive here.

Their English skills, coupled with their desire to debate and speak up for their rights, have made it possible for them to rise in the American executive hierarchy because the United States is more receptive to this kind of assertive leadership style. On the other hand, Chinese immigrants culturally are not so ready to challenge or question authority. Many remain engineers. If they ever want to realize their dreams, they must become entrepreneurs and form their own companies.

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for things to happen, but to move ahead to assume their share of leadership and responsibility.

SVI: What do you think the future of Silicon Valley will be?

Dr. Fong: As Silicon Valley is the world leader in creating new technology enterprises, there will be increasing interactions and connections between China and India as developing nations while the U.S plays the role of the developed world. This kind of linkage is complementary in nature and eventually will develop into a mutually beneficial relationship. A case in point is Apple’s iPhone that was designed and invented in the United States, assembled in China, and is now increasingly dependent on China for its market share and expansion. As the technology markets steadily develop in China and India, more American talent will be attracted to those two countries for opportunities. This trend may happen slowly over the next ten to twenty years.

America is always a haven for new technology and enterprises, and as long as this spirit of attracting the best and the brightest to join the immigrant class remains with policy makers in Washington D.C., the future for Silicon Valley looks bright.

Silicon Valley is a great place because many people have invested here financially, emotionally, and intellectually. We recognize that the greatness of a community is inseparable from its people.

However, Chinese immigrants have something to learn from Indian executives in their assertive leadership style. If they believe they can make Silicon Valley a better place, the best thing to do is not to wait S I L I C O N VA L L E Y I M P R E S S I O N S | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

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Patterson Ranch Development, Fremont CA

Bay Area Housing:

Average rental prices for apartments listed by cities: San Francisco: one-bedroom for $2896/month and two- bedrooms for $3653.

San Jose: one-bedroom for $2410/month and two bedrooms for $3019/month.

Cupertino: one bedroom for $2476/month and two bedrooms for $3128/month.

Santa Clara: one bedroom for $2440/month and two bedrooms for $3068/month.

Palo Alto: one bedroom for $2545/month and two bedroom for $3282.

Mountain View: one bedroom for $2500/month and two bedroom for $3193.

Sunnyvale: one bedroom for $2477/month and two bedroom for $3139.

Milpitas: one bedroom for $2422/month and two bedroom for $3034.

Fremont: one bedroom for $2261/month and two bedroom for $2759.

- October 2015, data by Rent Jungle https://www.rentjungle.com S I L I C O N VA L L E Y I M P R E S S I O N S | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

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Photo by James Gong Photo by JAMES GONG

Do we have a crisis?

Bay Area median home sales prices: Palo Alto: $2,682,000, East Palo Alto: $625,000 Menlo Park: $2,010,000 Atherton: $5,400,000 Woodside: $2,600,000 Mountain View: $1,745,000 Los Altos: $2,725,000 San Jose: $850,000 Saratoga: $2,300,000 Los Gatos: $1,635,000 4/1-12/07/2015 data by Paragon Real Estate Group http://www.paragon-re.com

Fremont: $855,000

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The Grand Hotel

Silicon Valley’s Elegent Boutique Hotel

865 W El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 800-786-0827 | 408-720-8500. fax: 408-720-1997 | http://www.svGrandHotel.com

Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Grand Hotel in Sunnyvale is just 20 minutes south of SFO, nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley. Grand Hotel is independently owned and offer some of widest array of amenities extended to any hotel guest that stays in the area.

The Grand Hotel has newly renovated room so the guests can enjoy extra comfort and space. The Grand Hotel also have suites with Kitchenette where you can cook a simple meal for your family. Welcome home!

Hotel amenities include: • Daily Hot Breakfast Box • Cocktails and Hors d’ oeuvres served in the Lounge daily • Wi-Fi • Business Center Access w/ complimentary printing • Access to Local Health Clubs • Special Rates for Luxury SUV service to and from San Jose International Airport and San Francisco International Airport • Daily Parking​

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Arts for all Humanity:

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Silicon Valley Creates

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. –Margaret Mead” SVCreates is a network of thoughtful, committed leaders dedicated to enhancing Silicon Valley’s cultural and aesthetic quality of life. With over 30 years of history in supporting the arts, SVCreates says “Yes, we can” to changing lives through arts and creativity.

Two years ago Arts Council Silicon Valley and 1stAct Silicon Valley merged to become SVCreates. Today, the reinvented organization is thriving with a long list of accomplishments and exciting future projects in the pipeline.

A sampling of SVCreates’ contributions to our community includes: ~ The Artist Laureate Program has awarded 148 Fellowships to local artists and invested over $400,000 in their work. ~ The ArtsEdConnect program has created a “market place” for teachers that have increased access to arts education. Launched in 2012 partnership with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, over $200,000 in mini-grants have been awarded to teachers that benefitted over 10,000 students. ~ ArtSPARK, a partnership with the Silicon Valley Symphony, has provided a full day of multi-cultural art programs to over 80,000 elementary school children. ~ Artsopolis, an arts and culture calendaring program, serves 45 communities across the nation with over 200 partners and millions of arts consumers who use its cultural content daily. ~ The Studio provides a multi-media lab for over 1500 students annually. ~ The publication of Content Magazine (acquired in 2015) has raised the visibility of our creative culture and has launched Content LABs, a series of bimonthly networking events, hands-on experiences, networking opportunities, presentations, and portfolio reviews by leaders in the creative industry. ~ The transformation of the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose into the School of Arts and Culture at MHP has provided after school classes, summer camps, holiday celebrations, ethnic dances, festivals and has brought joy, learning, and a sense of belonging to thousands of children and families.

With such a rich and diverse portfolio of accomplishments, what will 2016 bring? We were excited to speak with SVCreates CEO Connie Martinez about their 2016 priorities and challenges.

SVI: SVCreates has been involved in so many exciting projects over the past few years. What are your plans for 2016?

Connie: We are all about making arts relevant to our unique community. We understand that “technology and innovation” is the main event in Silicon Valley and to that end, we want the arts to be in service to the main event, which means an emphasis on cultural heritage, participatory arts, children’s creativity, innovation and place

Connie Martinez, CEO of Silicon Valley Creates

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making. We want to be the organization that builds and leverages partnerships between our multicultural, high tech community and our arts and cultural ecosystem.

million naming opportunity for the new Center.

Secondly, SVCreates is leading an effort to build a Creative Center for the Arts in Japan Town. This is a mixed-use development that In 2016 we plan to stay the includes housing, retail, a park course with our capacity building programs and advance three major plaza and our center. Our vision is to strengthen our arts and culture initiatives. ecosystem through shared servicThe first is Imagine VMC. We es and back office solutions, below are helping Valley Medical Center market rehearsal, studio and office Conceptual Plan CCA BUILDING

NORTH RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

SOUTH RETAIL/ RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

NOR

TH 6 TH

STRE

ET

VIEW FROM THE PARK

CCA Concept: Artist Rendering of Creative Center for the Arts

transform a 300,000 square ft Women and Children’s Center by infusing spaces with arts and creativity. Our vision is to demonstrate the healing power of the arts, replace fear and anxiety with wonder and joy, build community and create a sense of place. Working with the Valley Medical Center Foundation, we have helped raise $10 million to date and have recruited a network of fourteen culture partners (eg Palo Alto Jr. Museum, Monterey Bay Aquarium, History San Jose, Children’s Discovery Museum and Tech Museum, etc) to join us in our “community barn raising” efforts.

Our plans include new and existing art works, interactive exhibits, redesign of spaces and iconic public art installations. In 2016, we are focused on design and initial implementation and securing a $15

September 24th, 2015 - Conceptual Design Presentation

spaces, and a place for individual artists and organizations to collaborate and advance their work. Our core resident partners are San Jose Taiko and CreaTV. We are also partnering with the developer Related California and the City of San Jose, whose plans include the gift of land and infrastructure to our project valued at over $5million. In 2016, we are launching a $25million fund raising campaign with the hopes of breaking ground in 2017.

Creative Center for the Arts, Japantown San Jose

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Lastly, we are focused on developing a sustainable business model for Content Magazine and leveraging its assets to raise the value and visibility of our creative culture.

Daniel Garcia, the founder of Content Magazine and creative entrepreneur, joined the SVCreates

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team in early 2015. Together we are driving the development of a companion app, growing distribution and increasing opportunities for “creatives” to gather and network through Content Labs and Pick Up Parties.

SVI: You mentioned the culture of Silicon Valley, which creates unique challenges and opportunities for the arts. What does it take to be a successful arts organization here?

Connie: First of all context is important. Our region is relatively young, extremely wealthy and well educated, having attracted people from all over the world.

We are a “valley of immigrants” connected to some place else. We grew to global acclaim in record speed because of our technology and innovation combined with our start up, entrepreneurial culture.

Our rapid growth accelerated a suburban development pattern that ultimately “grew into” our region’s largest city, San Jose.

All of these factors influence the health and well being of our cultural ecosystem. We don’t have a dominant culture to rally around.

Our energy is dispersed across our suburban built environment, our philanthropy is global right out of the gate, we are “hands on” tinkerers aligned with digital culture and participatory arts. There is a reason that the Maker Faire and Burning Man appeals to a large segment of our population.

New money acts differently than old and we don’t have the traditional social elite that has historically funded the arts in America. Rather, we have the technology elite who are trying to drive global systems change through their philanthropy. As a result, the majority of our foundation, corporate and

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individual giving leaves the region.

And innovation invites “churn”, so constant change makes it difficult to hold people’s and organization’s attention and commitment.

So bottom line - in order to thrive in Silicon Valley, an arts organization needs to do things differently.

Our offerings have to be relevant to our demographic. We need to communicate and build web like relationships the way our culture does to attract, grow and sustain audience and supporters. We need to be entrepreneurial in the way we run our organizations – from scrappy good to scrappy great— and we need to “lean market”, with

a balanced and diversified portfolio of earned and donor income.

We believe that the arts play an integral role in the health and well-being of our region and that there are endless opportunities to make a difference through the arts, Silicon Valley style. Everything we do plays to the strength of our diversity and innovative culture.

There are excellent examples of what works across our multicultural and traditional arts organizations. SVCreates is simply trying to strengthen our cultural assets already in place, increase access to the arts and raise the visibility and value of our creative culture.

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“It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” - Steve Jobs, in introducing the iPad 2 in 2011 We salute SVCreates efforts to strengthen our culture ecosystem in Silicon Valley. What we do for the arts extends beyond our region and our generation. The power of the arts is universal and an expression of our humanity.

HEAVENLY SOUNDS UNDERGROUND Photo and story: John A. Swearingen

I heard the clarinet before I saw

it. Someone nearby was playing the sweet, soothing notes of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady.

Its lovely sound became louder as I approached the elevator in BART’s underground station at the Embarcadero.

Drawing nearer I saw it was being played by an elderly black man seated on a folding chair.

Charmed as a serpent I stopped to linger awhile in this thoroughly pleasant, mesmerizing experience. When consciousness intruded I went up and conspicuously dropped a couple of dollars into his open cashbox. Then, I backed away and took several photos. I do photography.

jazz musician having played all over the United States. Fondly he recalled how he had been given a big break tears ago in New York by music critic John Hammond, a Vanderbilt family-wealthy talent scout who loved American Negro jazz and helped individual talents join major orchestras, mostly in Harlem.. When those orchestras waned in the last decades of the 20th century Don struck out on his own, eventually settling in San Francisco about 20 years ago.

constantly changing parade of people appreciative, friendly and generous. Some of them have become good friends. He has no plans to change this sustaining, daily routine.

After finishing the song he looked at me and offered conversation. His name was Don Cunningham and allowed as how he was a lifelong

He finds the underground BART stations entirely to his liking. He is sheltered from the elements, the acoustics are superb, and the

I was sad as I rode the elevator up to street level and emerged into the bright sunlight of a less pleasant time.

As a crowd gathered he began playing the opening notes of Hoagie Carmichael’s Stardust.

Glancing at my watch brought the disappointing awareness that I must be moving on to the Ferry Building to catch the Sausalito ferry.

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Investing in Silicon Valley Commercial Real Estate: A Snapshot of Office Building Market at the beginning of 2016 - By Marian Chaney, Your Realtor for Life!

Marian Chaney, DRE # 01937247 (408)805-6680 / (650)383-7388 agentmchaney@gmail.com www.MarianChaney.com Your Realtor for Life!

A s a commercial real estate agent

at Keller Williams Commercial and a CCIM candidate, I keep a close eye on the trend of commercial real estate market in the bay area, especially in Silicon Valley, where my family and I live and I do most of my business. Not only do I pay attention to numbers, but also actively go out to meet other agents and developers – unlike residential agents who find majority of listings on MLS, commercial agents learn about deals mostly through owners directly and other colleagues.

I’m honored to share some of my learning with the readers of Silicon Valley Impression, and this first issue we will focus on office space.

At the close of 2015, Silicon Valley remains the nation’s strongest job market. Employment in the region has increased substantially since the beginning of the current cycle; the region has added over 154,700 jobs since Q1 2011. Total regional

employment now stands at a record one million jobs while unemployment is down to just 3.8%. The Bay Area now has the highest labor force on record, and the best job growth among the 51 metro areas in the nation with at least 1 million residents or more, fueled by a tech companies that are continuously growing.

The office market in the Silicon Valley ended 2015 with a vacancy rate of 7.5%, down slightly from the 7.7% rate recorded in Q3 and substantially lower than the 9.6% reading of one year ago. The 7.5% vacancy translates to 5.7 million square feet (msf) of availabilities down from 6.7 msf from one year ago. Even with more than 6.4 msf of new office space added over the last 12 months, local vacancy levels continue to decrease as most of this new development is either in the form of build-to-suits (bts) or speculative projects that are being leased up prior to delivery. Office space average rent also climbed in Q4 to $3.89 per square foot on a monthly full service basis, up from $3.51 psf one year ago.

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Developers and investors are doing what they can to meet the growing demand for office space in the Silicon Valley. Currently more than 6 million square feet of office space is under construction, with total potential development reaching more than an astounding 47 million square feet in the form of proposed developments. Recent new completions include Samsung’s North San Jose 680,000 square foot build-to-suit project on North First Street, and two buildings preleased

by Netflix in Los Gatos totaling 242,500 square feet; which the developer, Sandhill Properties sold to CBRE Global Investors for a reported $179 million.

In Q4 of 2015, the largest leasing deal in the Bay Area was done in the Silicon Valley. A confidential tenant pre-leased the 777,000 sqft project from Landbank Investments in Sunnyvale. Also contributing to the record gross absorption for the year was a large user sale. Broadcom purchased four buildings in North San Jose totaling 573,000 sf. Included in the sale was expansion land where

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an additional 500,000 sf can be built. Other notable transactions include Facebook (210,000 sqft in Menlo Park) and Visa (62,000sf in Palo Alto). Not showing any signs of slowing down, Apple leased another 200,000 sqft in North San Jose.

Investor demand for office space remains robust, particularly for

well-located, modern buildings with long-term tenancy in place.

The balance of the construction should be completed in 2016 which may result in a slight uptick of vacancy. However, demand remains extremely strong for class A product and there are several large tenants in the market looking for space. The Silicon Valley shows no signs of slowing. We expect

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new space at speculative developments to be leased up at a fairly quick pace. Meanwhile, look for rents to continue to climb into the first quarter of 2016.

If you need help to purchase or lease office space, my team and I would provide consultation and help to locate the space for you.

California Senior Legislature (CSL)-35 Years of Supporting Senior Legislation - By Lauren Rolfe S ince 1989 the California

Senior Legislature (CSL) has been proposing senior supportive legislation and acting to get that legislation signed into law. To date the organization has successfully promoted 210 laws that favor or support seniors and their families.

It is an organization of 120 senior (age 60+) volunteers representing every part of the state. While CSL is a State created organization, it receives no funding from the State. All efforts are supported through donations, primarily through a tax exempt contribution on the California State Income tax form-line 427.

Successful CSL sponsored bills focus on protection of elders. Examples are AB40 by Asm. Yamada requires mandated reporters of elder abuse to report evidence of physical injury within 2 hours of identifying it to both APS and to law enforcement. Another example is SB 1018 and SB 33 which make financial institutions mandated reporters of financial exploitation or abuse.

AB 1525 requires elder financial abuse training for employees of money transmitters in an effort to eliminate Scam operations that target seniors. Additional bills

sponsored by CSL include reinstating the Property Tax Deferment program that allows deferment of property taxes until the low income senior is no longer living in the home, helping to prevent senior homelessness. Perhaps one of the more immediately successful bills has been the Silver Alert program that uses the existing Amber alert network to notify the public and first responders when a senior with dementia or dementia like disease is missing. In its first year of operation the program returned 149 seniors to their families. This year’s SB128 or End of Life Options bill is a CSL sponsored effort.

CSL amplifies the voice of seniors within our state Legislature.

Seniors make up nearly 16% of California’s population, but those who take care for and about seniors comprise a much larger segment of our population. CSL also updates supporters on key legislation “We want to give our supporters timely updates on when their voices can make a difference.” states John Poiner, current Chair expensive, more compassionate and more effective ways” to deal with issues in California. CSL is all about finding such methods to deal with the rising senior issues in our great state.

Lauren Rolfe lives and volunteers in Solano County, Ca. She has a degree in Organizational Behavior and Rehabilitation Administration. As Vice President of Human Services for Goodwill Industries of Greater East Bay she oversaw Training, Employment, and Human Resources. She began working with seniors as the Executive Director of Solano County IHSS Public Authority. Lauren also volunteers as California’s Chair/Past Chair in the California Senior Legislature and Vice Chair of the Solano County Senior Coalition and Chair of its Elder Abuse Committee. Lauren lives with her husband of 49 1/2 years.

For current legislature priorities please visit our website: www.4csl.org.

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DRESSING UP SILICON VALLEY Interview with Peter Pau founder of Sand Hill Property Company I f you love great architec-

ture, you probably cannot wait for the new Apple Campus 2

by Foster + Partners, or the Heatherwick Studio’s (London) new Googleplex, or the Nvidia’s new Polygon Structure by Gensler(U.S.A), to materialize and shake the mundane architectural landscape of the Silicon Valley. There have never been so many internationally well known architects working in our area before with incredibly creative, beautiful, and mind-blowing plans.

No one would have dared to think of these concepts ten years ago.

However, we cannot help but feel a sense of regret that these buildings are the corporate offices of highly prestigious tech companies.

They take up large areas in our communities, but many of us will have no access to them. We cannot meet friends, hang out, or visit because we don’t work there.

If you believe that our communities and neighborhoods also deserve a place just as beautiful, fanciful or cool to wander and walk around, there is hope.

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Downtown Los Altos is going through a three-year long facelift.

Stanford Shopping Center’s new large-scale renovation is underway, and with the timely opening of Main Street Cupertino, we are excited that we too will have a place to meet. At this time of great architectural opportunities, we had the chance to interview Peter Pau, founder of Sand Hill Property Company to discuss real estate development in Silicon Valley, and the ‘wow-factor’ of his proposed project, The Hills at Vallco.

SVI: You and your firm have developed quite a few exciting architectural projects in the Bay Area. Which are your favorites, and why?

Pau: I like most of my buildings.

BridgePointe (formerly Fashion Island Shopping Center) has two sides. The front side faces the parking lot and the back faces the freeway. Typically most architects do not design the back of a shopping center, and nobody tries to make that look interesting. For this project we paid attention to all sides and it came out beautifully.

The Tree Farm in Los Altos, which is currently occupied by LinkedIn, is a large structure, but the architecture is articulated with intricate details so people don’t feel overpowered.

Our new design for1050 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto won an international award even before it was submitted to the Palo Alto Planning Commission. Many people who have seen the plans have given us good reviews and they appreciate the fact that we broke away from the traditional Stanford Research Park architectural scheme.

Main Street Cupertino was a challenging project. We made

an effort to diversify it for a downtown look. Since most downtowns are built over different periods, we wanted each building to be customized. Since I prefer a certain building style, to mix various styles means that I had to accept some styles that I was not used to. However, the results pleased me.

For example, the large restaurants facing Stevens Creek have the agricultural look to mimic the feeling of the wine country.

The new Target building will be spectacular. I purposely looked for an architect who does not specialize in retail. Without the conventional retail constraints, he has created a building that is bold and attractive.

We also built the Whole Foods Market in Cupertino, a 67,000 sq. feet store. It was difficult since it needed to be built sideways but still have the storefront visible from Stevens Creek Boulevard. We also built the Whole Foods store on El Camino Real in Los Altos. When Whole Foods approached us, I told them that the site was too small there wouldn’t be enough parking.

Whole Foods came back to say that the parking could be in the basement. This is the first time I realized that a grocery store could have underground parking. Whole Foods has been wonderful to work with. They are very creative people. They try to have individual styles and characteristics in each of their stores. This has been very costly but the results have been great.

The Hills at Vallco project was designed by one of the world’s best architects. We sponsored an international design competition.

We didn’t specify the design

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requirements, and each firm came up with its own ideas. We selected Rafael Viñoly’s design. Vallco is one of the most important works for me and for Rafael because there are so many innovative and risky aspects that challenge traditional architectural modes.

SVI: What ultimately do you want to achieve with Vallco? Some people make developers appear to be greedy. What is your personal fulfillment in this project?

Pau: I want to do something that I can be proud of, and the community can be proud of as well. The Hills is very challenging, but at the end of it, I can forsee something wonderful for the community- a place where people can meet and enjoy visiting in Cupertino. When this happens, I will know it will be a success.

As I have come to the final stage of my career, I want to do something different. When I was younger, I had more financial constraints. I had to pay the bank loans. I had to pay the construction company. I had to make sure that the property was occupied. Now, I don’t mind taking risks. I don’t have to be safe and conservative. I can simply build the best. I really want to offer something for the community to love and to cherish for many years to come. I am a Christian and I am deeply involved in my faith. I was taught to care about the community. So how the community can benefit from what I do is the most important aspect of my pursuit. At the end of the day, I want peace of mind when I ask myself “Did you do the right thing for other people?”

Vallco will be an expensive project.

If I were greedy and only wanted Continued on page 32 ...

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Kiss the ground you walk on Eco-friendly and comfortable floor technology that you will love and cherish happily ever after

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he floor covering industry has developed new technologies and styling to create environmental friendly products. Two improved products are Resilient Plank and Carpet Tile. They are versatile and may be combined to create unique designs.

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Both resilient plank and carpet tile are made with environmentally sustainable materials and can be recycled.

Home Flooring Plus specializes in the floor preparation, installation,

Carpet tiles are easy to install and very versatile in use, practice a little imagination and thinking out of the box, you can have a floor covering that is uniquely yours.

High end resilient floors can have a look of stone or wood, it’s 100% water and terminte resistent.

and after sales service of these two new floor coverings. We carry many good quality brands, including Patcraft owned by Warren. E. Buffett.

Patcraft is one of the top brands for carpet tile and resilient products. We have many years of experiences in the floor covering product selection and installation. We always update our knowledge of flooring design, technologies, and trends. Every floor we offer has more than surpassed our own high standards of performance and comfort. We not only care about choosing the best quality products, within the clients’ budget but also work with the interior designers and provide on-site supervision to make sure that the floor preparation (a key to durability) and installation is perfectly done. “Only the best is good enough for you”. We stand behind our products and we guarantee that you will be satisfied.

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Street Cupertino in 2007. The year before, there was a major referendum which defeated the housing development proposed by the previous developer due to concerns over schools. The Cupertino City Council and staff suggested us to do senior housing instead, as there would be no impact on the school district.

Continued from page 30 ...

The new Netflix building in Los Gatos by Sand Hill Property Co. with joint-venture partner the Carlyle Group

to make money, it would be much easier for me to build office buildings and apartments in many cities rather than doing something difficult like revitalizing Vallco.

Rafael showed me correspondence from people in different parts of the world about The Hills at Vallco project. He said this is the most important project he has ever done.

His firm has received international recognition and expressions of good will for his design. With so much support, the effort will be worthwhile.

SVI: Many people want to keep Vallco as just a shopping center.

What do you think about that?

Pau: It’s not that we don’t want retail, since we are retail developers. If we think that retail works, I would love to have more retail spaces. Retail rents can be higher than office rents. However, too much retail will not work. With the high turnover and competition in the retail industry, we need to have the right size and the right stores. The Hills at Vallco will have 625,000 square feet of retail space, the appropriate critical mass. We want to attract good retail tenants,

tenants who can do well for a long time.

The City of Cupertino hired outside consultants. The outcome of their study matched our conclusion, so we agreed to reduce the number of retail spaces while making sure new businesses wouldn’t fail.

SVI: Who are good retail tenants?

What retailers do you have in mind for The Hills at Vallco?

Pau: We are looking in Europe and Asia, as well as other parts of the world to bring good retail companies to Vallco in order to create more interesting shopping, dining and entertainment experiences. We hope to find something completely different from the usual chain stores, I hope Vallco will not have all the same stores as many other shopping malls.

SVI: People have accused you of cutting out senior housing on Main Street Cupertino and that the elements were changed in secret. Can you address these accusations?

Pau: There has been a lot of misinformation. We started Main

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We proposed four different segments for the Main Street project: senior housing, hotel, retail, and offices. Then the 2008 recession happened and everything stopped. When the economy began to recover, Cupertino City staff asked us to get started again. Since there were four different segments, each segment was to be financed by a different bank. Since I had never done senior housing before, the banks I worked with would not finance the senior housing segment, meaning we had to sell off the senior housing to another developer for it to be financed.

The City Council and staff were concerned that coordinating different pieces of the project with different developers would be too difficult. They wanted to see us finishing the project in one complete piece. So together, we came up with the idea to change the senior housing to regular apartments so we could get it financed and built along with the rest of the project. In the meantime, we were requested by the City Council and staff to build more office spaces. However, we did not change the retail and the hotel components.

What is unfair is that some people have said that we changed things secretly. How could we do things in secret? Every major plan change has to be reviewed by City staff, the design committee, and different public agencies, as well as

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outside design consultants, the City Council and the Planning Commission. We always have to go through public hearings and all the results are made public.

We started Main Street Cupertino before the recession and it took us eight years to finish. During this time, we had thirty to fourty public hearings in order to show project elements and to get approvals on our designs. Some changes were made by us. Some changes were initiated by City Hall. For anyone to claim that we could make changes behind closed doors is just using their imagination.

SVI: When will the grand opening for Main Street?

Pau: Main Street will open in stages, starting with Target in October, 2016. Most stores will open between Spring and Summer 2016. Apple will move into the

office spaces at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. The hotel will open at the end of 2016.

The apartments will be done in 2017. The City staff would like to have a grand opening ceremony for Main Street, but I am not sure if it is possible since different parts of Main Street will open at different times.

SVI: After almost fourty years of developing real estate in Silicon Valley, what is important for you now?

Pau: I would like to spend the last few years of my career building good community relationships, and doing a few more great projects. I want to show people that real estate developers are not all evil. I am Chinese first, a Christian next, and then a developer. It is important for me to do things right and be a good example.

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SVI: Our interview with Peter Pau has concluded, but there is no conclusion on The Hills at Vallco. Think of what the plan has to offer: beautiful architecture and landscaping. The world’s largest sky park. An orchard, a vineyard, 3.8 miles of trails, a new K-5 Elementary school, and an innovation center for our high school students, as well as interesting retail and excellent restaurants.

We will have no need to fight traffic and struggle with parking to get to Santana Row. With the Apple 2 Campus, Main Street Cupertino, and then The Hills at Vallco, our city will be dotted with award winning architecture, international cuisine and chic and hip stores.

Cupertino will finally have some culture and night life. However, we have to work together to make it happen.

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The Silicon Valley Studio: Gregory Burns and Angie Tan-Burns

I nternational and Bay Area artist

Gregory Burns has local roots. His wife, photographer Angie TanBurns, (featured photographer for, “The Burning Man”, Silicon Valley Impressions Summer 2015) on the other hand, has her roots in Asia.

Together they have established roots in Cupertino and Singapore.

Despite contracting polio as a child, and ambulating with braces and crutches, Gregory has competed in four Iron Man events, and set five world records in swimming during three Paralympics. With Angie’s support, Gregory shares his experiences and inspirations with many people through his motivational speeches and encourages others to go beyond self-imposed limitations to live creative lives.

In this issue, we are delighted to share their story with you as told

by Gregory.

Since my father was born in Oakland, it was only natural that following his successful career in the U.S. State Department, he settled our family in the Bay Area after having living overseas in Lebanon, Palestine, France, Germany, Holland and New Zealand. We initially resided in Mountain View before moving to Los Altos and eventually

Cupertino. I attended Foothill and De Anza Colleges, where I started my Paralympic swimming career, and honed my skills as a contemporary artist.

Little did I know that far away, in the Malaysian State of Sabah, a tiny girl named Hsiao Hsing would be born nine weeks prematurely to parents of Chinese ancestry. Perhaps because the doctors thought she might not survive, she fought to prove them wrong and came into the world with the tenacity of a tiger.

Her father, an artist and educator, would one day be a founding member of the Singapore Modern Art Society. A year after Hsiao Hsing’s birth, the family would board a Chinese junk and make the treacherous, long crossing to the newly independent country of Singapore where the family settled. Her mother would raise three strong children as the new country also took its first steps as a nation.

My fascination with Asia began with the Encyclopedia Britannica, which had pictures of ancient Chinese courts with elaborately costumed emperors and vassals. On Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, I visited Chinese mar-

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Depart: Gregory Angie-Tan Burns Joint work

kets to smell and observe all the exotic foods and spices. Eventually, in 1984, I joined a one-year San Jose State International Program to study Chinese painting, calligraphy and art history in Taiwan. This was the beginning of my Asian journey that has lasted over 30 years.

In Taipei I studied under famous local masters and began to understand the importance of developing one’s character as well as one’s artistic ability. How both would be visible through one’s brush strokes fascinated me. Wielding a bold brush with intention based on the rules of Chinese calligraphy, expanded the boundaries of my Western art aesthetic. Riding my motorcycle through Taipei’s crowded streets lined with elaborately written store signs deepened my appreciation for the written word even though I could not understand most of it.

In Singapore, Hsiao Hsing would grow up spending far more time away from home than under the watchful eyes of her parents. She loved adventuring around the still virgin Singapore countryside. She excelled in arts and sports, studied graphics arts and took up windsurfing. Since she was hanging

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participants during these interactive sessions.

I recently spoke to the 6th through 8th graders at the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos. Along with stories about how my parents worked tirelessly to raise me as an empowered and independent child, I also tried to stress the fact that failure in life has its place and that though we must strive to do our very best, falling down is how we learn to stand up and carry on.

Gregory Burns and Angie-Tan Burns

out with many Westerners at her windsurfing club, she changed her name to Angie.

Following my studies, I embarked on what was supposed to be a summer backpacking trip through China. After trekking across the Middle Kingdom for two months, as well as spending two weeks in Tibet painting in the mountains and monasteries, I took a five-day bumpy bus ride to Nepal. Once there, after more painting and trekking, summer was over and it was either time to go home or carry on.

As India was only another 24hour bus ride away, I carried on, spending the next year backpacking throughout the sub-continent, across Pakistan and then over the Karakorum Mountains and back into Western China before making my way to Taiwan. I’d been traveling for sixteen months, focusing my attention on painting the religious and sacred sites I’d found along the journey.

After living in Taiwan and later Hong Kong for a decade, I found myself working for a multi-national company in Singapore. A month later, I met Angie, the “angel” who I have shared my life and adventures with ever since. Two years into our relationship I left the

corporate world and began dual careers as a contemporary painter and motivational speaker. We never looked back. Together we have climbed mountains (the Grand Canyon amongst others), scuba dived with mighty manta rays in the Maldives, backpacked across Europe for months at a stretch and generally live a big, fulfilling life together in Singapore and Cupertino.

One of our first and most memorable experiences together was the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics where I competed for the USA Team in swimming. Prior to the Games, Angie perfected her culinary skills and fueled me for all the training required which enabled me to set world records in the 100 Meter Backstroke and two USA Team Relays. It was such an exciting feeling for me knowing that inside the loudly cheering crowd of 17,000 fans was my family and life partner. It ended with many medals and memories that we still share.

For two decades I have traveled the world sharing experiences and motivational messages with multinational corporations and various schools. I have been equally inspired by many of the thoughtful questions I have been asked by

Both Angie and I draw inspiration from nature. Last year, along with another friend with a physical challenge due to a bicycle accident he’d suffered three years earlier, we set out to trek 35 kilometers across four peaks in the mountains of Ladakh, India. Along the way, besides scrapping our way up and down narrow rocky, scree-submerged trails, I managed to create four large paintings that symbolized our endeavor. They are: Set your Intention, Find a Tribe, Climb Mountains, and Carry On and Keep Walking.

“I can see no other reason for the existence of art and poetry and religion except as they tend to restore in us a freshness of vision and more emotional glamour and a more vital sense of life.” Lin Yutang.

We congratulate Angie and Gregory for their life together with time for nature, time for imagination, time for creativity, and time for sharing. We look forward following their adventures and discoveries.

Please visit their websites: www.gregoryburns.com, w ww.gregoryburnsinspire.com and www.angarts.com.

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INSTRUMENT DONATION EVENT BRINGS THE GIFT OF MUSIC TO EAST PALO ALTO SCHOOLS

T here will be more “music in the

air” in East Palo Alto thanks to the collaboration of several community organizations. On Sunday December 20, 2015, Ivymax Foundation in Cupertino, The Cupertino Rotary Club, The East Palo Alto Rotary Club, and Silicon Valley Impressions Magazine held a Share the Love of Music event at Cupertino Community Hall. They gathered to celebrate the collection of 60 used instruments for East Palo Alto school children and the Live in Peace organization.

The event was launched by The Cupertino Rotary Club Youth Service Committee leaders Don Sun and Melonie Brophy, and District Governor Elect #5170 Orrin Mahoney, along with East Palo Alto Rotary Club President Elizabeth Jackson, and Rotarian Ivan Temes. The majority of the instruments were collected by the IvyMax Foundation student club.

IvyMax Foundation and both Rotary Clubs also collected $7500 in cash donations to be given to East Palo Alto schools to pay for art supplies and music instrument repairs. Of the $7500 total donation, $5000 was donated by IvyMax student and founder of Mission of Arts, Ms. Si Chen. $500 was donated by Pastor Xiong Ruan of Home of Christ 5 in Cupertino, and $1,000 by the East Palo Alto Rotary Club.

IvyMax Foundation: Liang Peng, Helena wang, Cupertino Rotarian Don Sun, East Palo Alto Rotary President Elizabeth Jackson, Live in Peace Director of Arts and Music Justine Phipps, East Palo Alto Rotarian Ivan Temes, Cupertino Rotarian Jerra Rowland, Melonie Brophy, Wendell Stephens, Hung Wei, Orrin Mahoney, and Savita Vaidhyanathan

Members of the Cupertino and East Palo Alto Rotary, IvyMax Foundation students, and city officials of Cupertino and East Palo Alto

IvyMax Foundation Cupertino student clubs IMPCS and Nanoseed each donated $500. The $5,000 donation made by IvyMax student Si Chen will be distributed equally to each East Palo Alto school. The remaining $2500 will be used for various music programs in that community.

Cupertino Mayor Barry Chang, Vice Mayor Savita Vaidhyanathan, East Palo Alto Mayor Donna Rutherford and former Mayor Lisa Gauthier attended. Fremont Union

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High School District Trustee, Hung Wei, Cupertino Rotary President Wendell Stevenson were also present. One speaker lauded Share the Love of Music as “meaningful, kind, and community building.”

The Share the Love of Music event was covered by NBC BayArea News, the Palo Alto Weekly, the San Jose Mercury News, the Cupertino Courier, the World Journal and Tsing-Dao Daily.

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LESS IS MORE, THE TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT Marc Kulla

W ith the housing prices in the

bay area literally going through the roof, most people cannot afford to buy or rent a home near their work or where they desire.

There is a new movement that is taking shape and is going to be a saving grace for many of us and for our future generations. It is a social movement of people who are choosing to live in smaller homes to reduce environmental and financial impact, and in return have an increase in freedom and time.

The average Tiny House is between 100 and 400 square feet, whereas the average home in the U.S. is just less than 2600 feet. Giving up space in our home is not as daunting as it may sound. Just walk into IKEA and see how they have setup a “home” in about 175 square feet that includes a bedroom area,

Courtesy of thetinylife.com

living room area, kitchen area and bathroom. Is it really possible to live in such a small space? It is, and the choices that we have now are incredible! The variety of Tiny Houses is growing with new home styles available almost monthly.

If you like a Victorian style home, there’s one available. If you prefer the rustic look, there’s one

available. If you are more futuristic, it is also available.

The number of architectural plans as well as complete Tiny House manufacturers is a moving target as more and more companies enter the market. Wheelhaus, a well-known manufacturer based in Wilson, WY has many models to choose from.

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Courtesy of EcoCapsule: Tiny house in a capsule

Courtesy of Wheelhaus, tiny house exterior

The original Wheelhaus model, The Wedge, is an elegant display of how 400 square feet can be used.

Each house consists of a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/living room, as well as a private deck. The exterior of the home is covered in a rustic ranchwood siding.

The interior is elegant and modern.

It could be found in any high-end condominium in a major city. Can’t decide on the American made or imported Italian tile? It’s much easier when you only need a dozen or so of the tiles, not boxes and boxes that we would need for a typical home remodel.

If a rustic exterior is not your style, there is a huge range of options between that style and futuristic. Going futuristic also implies that you will be self-sustainable for some of your natural resources.

Electricity can be based on wind and solar power and heating and cooling can be built into the design of the home. Water can be supplemented with built-in rainwater

Courtesy of Wheelhaus, tiny house interior

collection techniques. One futuristic design that is getting quite a bit of press is based in the Slovak Republic. The Ecocapsule is billed as the “New way of sustainable living.”

From the exterior you may wonder who would ever live in such an egg-shaped home? Many of our young workers in Silicon Valley might enjoy living in this type of home rather than renting a room in a family home or living with 3 other roommates in a small, outdated apartment. The Ecocapsule beats living in RV’s and trucks to cut down on costs or more commonly renting an apartment making long commutes to the office.

Tiny houses are not for everyone.

However, the growing interest in these homes should be a wake up call for our younger generation. Would we rather live in the area we prefer in a smaller house, or would we prefer to live hours away from our work just so we can afford a home that is more than we

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truly need and generally carries debt along with it? A quick Google search on Tiny Houses results in 22 million results including a TV series based on this growing phenomenon (Tiny House Nation).

This is not a fad that will falter.

This is the future of our society and one that the Silicon Valley needs to clear hurdles to incorporate into our landscape. We must be forward thinking in ways that can incorporate a new, young workforce into our community.

Marc Kulla holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science as well as a graduate degree in Education. He is a software engineer, entrepreneur, parent, and is currently a middle school teacher. He works and lives in the Bay Area.

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