Transportation in and out of North Bayshore is a disaster, with basically all traffic funneled over the Shoreline and Rengstorff overpasses. Additionally, since North Bayshore up until now has basically been a big office park, public transit is virtually nonexistent on the weekend. I hope the City Council pressed hard to get a light rail extension or some other transit solution into North Bayshore.

This is amazing, finally a city that supports businesses and development. It's a shame other cities don't take note of how lowering fees and restrictions allows developers to build more housing and smaller companies to compete in the market which lowers prices for everyone.
Thank you city council for finding real solutions and not just some socialist dream/nightmare.

Sounds like a big LOSE. 231,000 sq. ft. of office space is surely MORE added employees than the 635 residential units so it is just putting our housing/jobs balance even further out of whack. And the council wanted this so badly that they gave a big discount on the fees.

We can't dig our selves out of our housing shortage by adding more office space. Repeatedly our council has failed to stop approving - can't say no to Google. Is it time for a citizen backed moratorium?

Thanks this article helps me choose which city council members NOT to vote for.
basically anyone who doesn't have the backbone to standup to developers and keeps approving awful projects that are ruining Mountain View (5 not to vote for, 1 to consider, 1 absent). If housing crisis is as bad as claimed why approve more office and hotel projects which make the problem worse? Why do the hideous, generic, light-blocking "luxury" (HA) developments lining every inch of El Camino still have "leasing" signs months after they are completed - with many additional ones still being built all over town? The problem at this point isn't a housing crisis per se, but rather new developments pushing out existing affordable complexes to build more "luxury" ones. Lack of affordable housing is what is contributing to increase in homeless people downtown as well as all the RVs along Shoreline. Young Google employees still mostly prefer to live in SF rather than MV which is what causes the massive traffic disaster every commute time. DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM NOW! City Council Out!

In a free market in a place like Mountain View, now wealthy, there would be no shortage of housing for those who can afford to live in one of the priciest places on earth. Demand is high. "Affordable housing" is a dream. Most all funding must now go toward housing those who have to get off the street or die. Study the numbers. Economics (accounting).
George Drysdale social studies teacher and land ecnonomist

We have such a shortage of housing, I don't know why the city keeps increasing its fees. What they should do is keep fees high, but give a discount when increasing density. If you're only converting a house into a duplex, get a tiny discount discount. If you're converting 1 residence per acre to 100 residences per acre, you get a big discount because by increasing density, you're making much better use of our limited land. Buildings for housing are expected to last 50-75 years on average. It takes a long time before it's economical to redevelop existing housing into denser housing. For example, it makes zero sense to tear down a 1 year old house in order to build anything denser; it's too new! But tearing down a 100 year old house to build an apartment complex makes a lot more sense; the old building is not worth refitting with modern conveniences like insulation and windows. We need to aim for significantly higher density projects.