Downtown San Mateo Is a Monument to Insider Self-Dealing
17 hours ago
- #real estate
- #urban planning
- #transit equity
- The founding of Downtown San Mateo was influenced by real estate speculator Charles Polhemus, who positioned the train station on his own land to profit from increased land values.
- Transit systems primarily benefit nearby landowners by increasing property values, rather than riders, taxpayers, or transit agencies, shaping decisions on alignments and station locations.
- Modern transit funding, like the proposed sales tax in SB 63, is often regressive, taxing everyone but mainly benefiting high-value landowners near stations, with alternatives like land value taxes not being pursued due to political constraints.
- SB 79 aims to recapture transit value by upzoning areas near stations to allow more housing, enabling more people to benefit from proximity, though landowners still gain significantly.
- The debate centers on ensuring transit is funded while adjusting who pays for it and who lives near it, to distribute benefits more broadly beyond historical landowning interests.