Between the Lotus and the Lamborghini Lie The Homeless

Between the Lotus and the Lamborghini live the homeless. This is a Palo Alto reality, not a metaphor or allegorical tale. It is not the Silicon Valley story shown around the world – the one that draws the seekers, coders, the new, new ideas to the Valley. The minivan resident is just as real as the Lotus and Lamborghini owners are. Here in front of IDEO and across the street from Philz live the luxury car owners, the minivans are trying to stay at a community center to use the showers.

Mike Cassidy said in a recent article in The San Jose Mercury News:

“Palo Alto is known as the home of Stanford University, Mark Zuckerberg, Marissa Mayer, Laurene Powell Jobs and a bushel of billionaires made so by lesser-known companies. And now it’s also known for its homeless problem.

It’s an uncomfortable point of notoriety for a city with pockets of fabulous wealth that craves civility and political correctness. For the record, Palo Alto has “unhoused individuals,” not homeless people; and an Opportunity Center as opposed to a homeless shelter.”

Why are the homeless suddenly news? Because the Palo Alto City Council voted they may no longer live in their cars.

Cars – home, status symbol, transportation, and the new, new thing as Elon Musk shows us.  Across the street from the L and the L in the pic here was a Tesla. I didn’t see the homeless. They re as usual, invisible.