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Context: https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2021/01/25/palo-alto-banned-from-bringing-back-residents-only-policy-for-foothills-park https://paloaltoonline.com/news

Context: https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2021/01/25/palo-alto-banned-from-bringing-back-residents-only-policy-for-foothills-park https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2021/01/25/palo-alto-banned-... Basically ever since segregation was banned Palo Alto had laws that only 'local residents' could use certain parks. The law was pretty obvious in its intent and the law was struck surprisingly recently.

gumby 4y ago
Read my parallel comment — that wasn’t the reason for excluding non-residents from that one park. It was about the selfish argument made by Los Altos city council. The segregation argument was a good one, but not for the reason you cite. Because of prior segregation, the population of PA is still lopsided, and that meant a resident-only park had an unfair bias. After a bit of a rush when the restriction was dropped, it settled back to its normal quiet state. In reality there was de facto no restriction: the entry gate was rarely staffed and you could always enter through Arastradero Park which, like all the other parks in Palo Alto, has no restrictions at all.
marcell 4y ago
Do you have any basis for saying this law was racist or had segregationist goals? It’s not like the neighboring cities (Mt View and Menlo Park) have many black people. My understanding is that the local resident restrictions were based on some local politics around purchasing the park a long time ago, and then transformed into a Palo Alto NIMBY policy. In 2008 Los Altos Hills tried to buy access to Foothill Park.
- thatfrenchguy 4y ago
  > It’s not like the neighboring cities (Mt View and Menlo Park) have many black people. East Palo Alto?
- AnotherGoodName 4y ago
  "The lawsuit also stated that the city's ban on nonresidents "traces its roots to an era when racial discrimination in and around the City was open and notorious" and cites mid-20th century policies such as redlining and "block busting" that prevented Black people from buying homes in Palo Alto." I'd prefer to point people to the text of the article rather than trying to relay a point made there to here and back again.
  - marcell 4y ago
    That’s a lawsuit from a motivated interest group, it’s not a primary source.
- aworks 4y ago
  In 1970, Menlo Park was 17.4% black. Wikipedia says in 2020 it was about 3% http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/MenloPark70.htm http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/MenloPark70.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menlo_Park,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menlo_Park,_California
  - tough 4y ago
    Gentrification at its best

gumby 4y ago

Read my parallel comment — that wasn’t the reason for excluding non-residents from that one park. It was about the selfish argument made by Los Altos city council. The segregation argument was a good one, but not for the reason you cite. Because of prior segregation, the population of PA is still lopsided, and that meant a resident-only park had an unfair bias. After a bit of a rush when the restriction was dropped, it settled back to its normal quiet state. In reality there was de facto no restriction: the entry gate was rarely staffed and you could always enter through Arastradero Park which, like all the other parks in Palo Alto, has no restrictions at all.

marcell 4y ago

Do you have any basis for saying this law was racist or had segregationist goals? It’s not like the neighboring cities (Mt View and Menlo Park) have many black people. My understanding is that the local resident restrictions were based on some local politics around purchasing the park a long time ago, and then transformed into a Palo Alto NIMBY policy. In 2008 Los Altos Hills tried to buy access to Foothill Park.

thatfrenchguy 4y ago
> It’s not like the neighboring cities (Mt View and Menlo Park) have many black people. East Palo Alto?
AnotherGoodName 4y ago
"The lawsuit also stated that the city's ban on nonresidents "traces its roots to an era when racial discrimination in and around the City was open and notorious" and cites mid-20th century policies such as redlining and "block busting" that prevented Black people from buying homes in Palo Alto." I'd prefer to point people to the text of the article rather than trying to relay a point made there to here and back again.
- marcell 4y ago
  That’s a lawsuit from a motivated interest group, it’s not a primary source.
aworks 4y ago
In 1970, Menlo Park was 17.4% black. Wikipedia says in 2020 it was about 3% http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/MenloPark70.htm http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/MenloPark70.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menlo_Park,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menlo_Park,_California
- tough 4y ago
  Gentrification at its best