This old house is still{{U}} (31) {{/U}}pretty good shape,{{U}} (32) {{/U}}its newly rich owners wanted something bigger and better on their expensive Los Altos lot. Instead of bulldozing the house,{{U}} (33) {{/U}}other newly rich Silicon Valley owners have been doing lately, they decided to give it away to the city of East Palo Alto.
Roger Gaw is a Los Altos homeowner who wants to donate a house; "We paid a lot of money to have the house moved here. And someone gets a home. So it works{{U}} (34) {{/U}}everybody."
The idea quickly caught on. A tax break for well-to-do home builders and a nearly free home for a needy family, add up to good business{{U}} (35) {{/U}}real estate agents. Christina Luiz is a real estate agent in Silicon Valley. "I personally own two homes that could be used. I talked to one of my other builders, and they said, they too, would be willing to donate the homes in perfect condition. And I said, how could I do this, and East Palo Alto told me, we're getting calls from people who want to donate for tax reasons."{{U}} (36) {{/U}}no time, the city of East Palo Alto found itself with eight donated houses.
Mayor Sharifa Wilson says of the situation, "One of the dilemmas that East Palo Alto has is that we don't own any property.{{U}} (37) {{/U}}the dilemma is what we do{{U}} (38) {{/U}}the houses that people offer us?"
Over the past few decades, East Palo Alto has been an island of difficulty in a world of affluence. Poverty, drugs and drive-by shootings earned it the title "murder capital" a few years back. Now it's benefiting{{U}} (39) {{/U}}a trickle down effect from its wealthy neighbors. Once it figures out how to handle the windfall and share the wealth.
Mayor Sharifa Wilson says, "I can imagine at some point everybody will be screaming, give me the house, give me the house. This kind of thing. That's the only thing I'm a little bit leery about."
For East Palo Alto, it's an embarrassment of riches. More houses than they know{{U}} (40) {{/U}}to do with.