Letter to the Mayor of Cupertino
This letter was sent to the current Mayor of Cupertino:
Dear Mayor Paul,
My name is Stephen Nishi, and I am currently a first-year student attending the University of Southern California. Up until I moved into college, I have lived in Cupertino my entire life, and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. As a Cupertino resident, I have always appreciated the many amenities and services that Cupertino has to offer, including my education at Cupertino High School, the multicultural environment that has developed over the last decade, and many others. Sadly, because of Cupertino’s notorious reputation for high housing prices, only a select few can live in Cupertino, which deeply troubles me. In my eyes, Cupertino has always been a city with open, welcoming arms to anyone, but within recent years, this perception has greatly shifted because of the extremely high housing prices that are scaring residents away. I am writing this letter to you because I believe that this housing crisis is extremely alarming and that there is a proposed solution that would greatly reduce this housing crisis.
To my understanding, in your 2018 State of the City Address, you said that the housing “circumstances are not dire” in Cupertino and that “it’s not at a point where anyone can justifiably say […] drastic measures must be taken.” I beg to differ, as according to Zillow the current average house in Cupertino costs $2,714,758, which is more than six times higher than the national average ($408,800) and around four times higher than California’s average price ($722,406). Although the majority of Cupertino’s residents have the money to pay for these housings, the high housing costs caused by the shortage of affordable housing units put low-income families at extreme risk of homelessness since the majority of their income already goes towards housing expenses. In fact, effects of these high housing prices as hordes of homeless camps can be seen near Vallco Mall at Wolfe and I-280. However, as of right now, affordable housing units can be built in order to drive the housing prices down by increasing the housing supply.
I strongly believe that malls should be repurposed into affordable housing, instead of luxury homes and hotels. Especially in recent years, the growth of online shopping forced many malls to be rendered useless, as everything can be bought from a tap of a button. This can be seen through the decline of Vallco Mall, the Oaks Center, and many other malls that flourished during the early 2000s. Mainly, the property on which Vallco Mall used to sit on is a perfect place to develop affordable housing. In fact, I think that the current proposed plan with 2,402 affordable housing will greatly benefit the global housing market, as it would allow more people to move into Cupertino. In addition, the new influx of people caused by the construction of these affordable housing units would bring more economic opportunities for the city. I believe that malls other than Vallco should also be converted into affordable housing, like the aforementioned Oaks Center. I truly think that low-income families should not have to worry about something that is considered a basic necessity and that we should put aside our own greed to help others live under a roof without fear.
I hope I did not take too much out of your day, and I hope you would seriously consider supporting the current Vallco proposals for the betterment of Cupertino’s future.
Sincerely,
Stephen Nishi
