By Emily DeRuy | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 12:56 pm | UPDATED: November 9, 2018 at 2:43 pm With Google expected to build a massive San Jose campus in the coming years, a new report takes stock of the project’s possible benefits like a revitalized downtown and its potential drawbacks — soaring housing costs and displaced residents. The report, published by the city with input from a number of community organizations and residents, comes just weeks before Dec. 4, when the City Council is expected to approve the sale of some 20 acres of land near Diridon Station to the tech company. Since February, nearly 40 people — including Carl Guardino of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a business advocacy group that counts Google among its members and Maria Noel Fernandez of Silicon Valley Rising, an organization that has raised concerns about gentrification — have met monthly as part of an advisory group to discuss what the project could and should mean for the future of San Jose. And while the 83-page document does not represent a list of the city’s priorities for the area in the coming decades or even a consensus, it provides a snapshot of how a wide-range of people and organizations who stand to be affected view the proposed redevelopment. “The top issue is the fear of displacement from San Jose due to rising housing prices,” the report notes. “The top opportunity is for the revitalization of the Diridon… [Read full story]
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