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Yes, but do the good people of Sunnyvale vote for infrastructure projects? Do they allocate enough funds for building that infrastructure, and/or do they have r

Yes, but do the good people of Sunnyvale vote for infrastructure projects? Do they allocate enough funds for building that infrastructure, and/or do they have rational expectations for where those funds will come from? Even if you fear putting the cart before the horse, it simply begs the question of why you don't already have the horse. And the answer to that, I think, is back to what was stated above: fear of change, of urbanization, of government, of government spending, of property value declines, of loss of "heritage" – whatever that means to a farming town that replaced its (AFAIK) last orchard with a strip mall called the "Cherry Orchard" in 1999...

phlakaton 10y ago
(BTW, I don't really mean to pick too much on Sunnyvale in particular here. The increased demand on housing and infrastructure can't be solved by Sunnyvale alone. It's a massive regional problem, if not a state problem, and the entire region is falling way short of meeting its needs.)
- guyzero 10y ago
  I don't take it personally and you are very correct. I'm just resigned that urban planning decisions made in 1960 are effectively irreversible.
guyzero 10y ago
There is a new school being built but it's in an area that's already underserved and bussing kids pretty far. SCUSD (much of Sunnyvale is in the Santa Clara Unified School District - why school district boundaries are disjoint with municipal boundaries around here I can't explain) passed a $419M bond measure in 2014 (Measure H) which includes classroom expansions. Sadly it's not quite so easy to increase road capacity as unlike a real city where you can add residents without adding vehicles, it's simply not possible to add residents in the 'burbs without adding an equal number of cars on the road. I'd love for it to be otherwise, but the sprawl can't be fixed just by rezoning lots for higher density. I think it's more an issue of poor planning than fear of change (although yes, some residents want the city to be a 1966-themed amusement park). Hanlon's Razor and all. Personally I have no attachment to the sentimental issues around Sunnyvale but my proposed solution of levelling half the city and rebuilding it like central Toronto seems like a non-starter.
- toast0 10y ago
  Schools district boundaries are distinct from municipal boundaries in California because school districts are separate from municipalities. A school district need not fall within a single county either. Often, you'll hear mayoral candidates campaigning in a platform of fixing schools; they are either misinformed or disingenuous, mayors in California have no official influence on schools.

phlakaton 10y ago

(BTW, I don't really mean to pick too much on Sunnyvale in particular here. The increased demand on housing and infrastructure can't be solved by Sunnyvale alone. It's a massive regional problem, if not a state problem, and the entire region is falling way short of meeting its needs.)

guyzero 10y ago
I don't take it personally and you are very correct. I'm just resigned that urban planning decisions made in 1960 are effectively irreversible.

guyzero 10y ago

There is a new school being built but it's in an area that's already underserved and bussing kids pretty far. SCUSD (much of Sunnyvale is in the Santa Clara Unified School District - why school district boundaries are disjoint with municipal boundaries around here I can't explain) passed a $419M bond measure in 2014 (Measure H) which includes classroom expansions. Sadly it's not quite so easy to increase road capacity as unlike a real city where you can add residents without adding vehicles, it's simply not possible to add residents in the 'burbs without adding an equal number of cars on the road. I'd love for it to be otherwise, but the sprawl can't be fixed just by rezoning lots for higher density. I think it's more an issue of poor planning than fear of change (although yes, some residents want the city to be a 1966-themed amusement park). Hanlon's Razor and all. Personally I have no attachment to the sentimental issues around Sunnyvale but my proposed solution of levelling half the city and rebuilding it like central Toronto seems like a non-starter.

toast0 10y ago
Schools district boundaries are distinct from municipal boundaries in California because school districts are separate from municipalities. A school district need not fall within a single county either. Often, you'll hear mayoral candidates campaigning in a platform of fixing schools; they are either misinformed or disingenuous, mayors in California have no official influence on schools.