Surveys and Research

Resident Satisfaction

2017 Palo Alto National Citizens Survey

2016 Palo Alto National Citizens Survey

Transportation

Downtown Palo Alto Transportation Management Association’s Mode Share Survey 2017

Downtown Palo Alto Transportation Management Association’s Mode Share Survey 2016

Downtown Palo Alto Mode Split Survey 2015

Housing Affordability and Displacement

Subsidized housing can be twice as effective at reducing displacement as building market-rate units

UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) sets the record straight on the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) frequently cited February 2016 report that used IGS data to argue that the market-rate development would be the best tool to prevent displacement of low-income households. According to the May 2016 IGS Research Brief:

[W]e found that … subsidized housing is twice as effective [at reducing displacement pressures] as market-rate development at the regional level.

“In this research brief we present a more nuanced view to contribute to this debate. We correct for the omission of subsidized housing production from the LAO Report and find that both market-rate and subsidized housing reduce displacement at the regional level, yet subsidized housing has over double the impact of market-rate units.” (emphasis added)

Read the IGS brief and the LAO report in question below.

Housing production, filtering and displacement: untangling the relationships (Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley May 2016)

Perspectives on Helping Low-Income Californians Afford Housing (California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) Report, February 2016)

The Council of Community Housing Organizations ran the numbers on a filtering (trickle-down) affordability strategy for housing in San Francisco and developed a one-page infographic that “breaks down the basics of filtering, the assumptions behind it, and the reasons it doesn’t work the way some say it does.”

Filtering fallacy infographic
View full Infographic

Case Studies Highlight Displacement Impacts – local housing policy, zoning and tenant protections are key to stability

UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project sought to ground its research in “live experiences of real communities” with in depth case studies including Redwood City and East Palo Alto. Among their key findings:

  • Success stories of neighborhood stability have been largely due to strengths of local housing policy, community organizing, tenant protections and planning techniques.
  • Gentrification and displacement are inherently linked to shifts in the regional housing and job market.

Case studies on gentrification and displacement in the San Francisco Bay Area (Center for Community Innovation, University of California, Berkeley July 2015)