East Palo Alto resident, here. Not at all surprised to hear this; our town used to be the last place on the Peninsula where non-engineers could afford to live,

East Palo Alto resident, here. Not at all surprised to hear this; our town used to be the last place on the Peninsula where non-engineers could afford to live, but those days are gone. See here for some history: https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/10/east-of-palo-altos-eden/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/10/east-of-palo-altos-eden/ Some reasons: - Predatory lending resulted in a 35% foreclosure rate on single-family homes since 2008, half of which are now owned by people who don't live in town. More at http://archive.peninsulapress.com/2013/07/16/squeezed-by-the-foreclosure-crisis-and-booming-silicon-valley-real-estate-east-palo-alto-confronts-gentrification/ http://archive.peninsulapress.com/2013/07/16/squeezed-by-the... - Until mid-2016, virtually all of the high-density rental homes in East Palo Alto were owned by a single absentee landlord in Chicago, who was hell-bent on chasing out as many residents as possible so they could reset rents to "market rates" or (better) knock down the apartments and build condos. More at http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2016/02/16/exclusive-east-palo-altos-woodland-park-apartments.html http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2016/02/16/exclusive... - The price of local housing has jumped since Facebook opened their new campus, offering a $10,000 to $15,000 payment to employees who live within 10 miles of One Hacker way. More at http://www.reuters.com/article/facebook-benefits-idUSKBN0U02PC20151218 http://www.reuters.com/article/facebook-benefits-idUSKBN0U02... I'm sad to read some of the comments. "If you can't afford to live in your neighborhood, get the hell out" is a sentiment that will definitely come back to haunt you.