John Ebneter
Most leading social scientists have determined that housing inequality in the United States, based on racial lines, has led to a host of social and economic disparities that must be addressed to solve our centuries-old segregation problems. The scientists maintain that until we promote and learn to live together, with our shared experiences and differences, our country will habitually be burdened with the tremendous waste of resources and lives required to facilitate, expand and promote an unjust system of oppression.
Starting with slavery and the elimination of native people, through the 20th century exclusionary housing practices, with todayâs mass incarceration, the ruling class has devised an ever-damning view of and policies toward those of color to ensure wealth and status are kept in the dominant raceâs hands.
Draper Universityâs plan to convert its top three floors from dormitories to offices and add an elevator and staircase is facing pushback from the San Mateo Planning Commission. While most of the Planning Commission was OK with changing dorms to offices, it requested significant revisions to the elevator and staircase portion of the project over concerns the changes would alter the buildingâs historic nature.
Draper Universityâs building at 44 E. Third Ave. is part of the San Mateo Downtown Historic District and is considered a local historical building. It was built in 1926 and operated as the Benjamin Franklin Hotel until 2003. Changing the building architecture could permanently change its historical aspects, something the Planning Commission is against. Certain materials proposed for the elevator, like a glaze, could be harmful to the buildingâs Spanish Colonial Revival style, according to a city report. Most commissioners didnât see how the project coul
Draper Universityâs plan to convert its top three floors from dormitories to offices and add an elevator and staircase is facing pushback from the San Mateo Planning Commission. While most of the Planning Commission was OK with changing dorms to offices, it requested significant revisions to the elevator and staircase portion of the project over concerns the changes would alter the buildingâs historic nature.
Draper Universityâs building at 44 E. Third Ave. is part of the San Mateo Downtown Historic District and is considered a local historical building. It was built in 1926 and operated as the Benjamin Franklin Hotel until 2003. Changing the building architecture could permanently change its historical aspects, something the Planning Commission is against. Certain materials proposed for the elevator, like a glaze, could be harmful to the buildingâs Spanish Colonial Revival style, according to a city report. Most commissioners didnât see how the project coul
A project providing hundreds of residential housing units for young families has been approved by the San Mateo Planning Commission.
The Peninsula Heights project on Campus Drive will have 290 residential units, with a mix of three- to four-story single-family residences, townhomes and flats, according to a San Mateo Planning Commission report. Peninsula Heights would have 624 on-site parking spaces with attached garages and visitor parking. The current site is 15.45 acres, with a northern site at 2988 Campus Drive and a southern site at 2755 Campus Drive. The northern site would have 134 units, with 310,000 square feet of floor space. The southern site would have 156 units, with 368,000 square feet of floor space.