In the latest attempt to tackle the Bay Area’s growing homelessness crisis, city and county officials celebrated a milestone Monday — downtown San Jose’s first housing development dedicated exclusively to taking vulnerable residents off the streets. Villas on the Park is set to house 83 homeless residents by October 2019. And what makes the project unique is its central location, just three blocks from City Hall and one block from St. James Park, a long-standing gathering spo

As development in San Jose explodes and housing prices continue to soar, the City Council on Tuesday night adopted changes to the city’s housing polices that could benefit renters and provide protections for landlords. At the Housing Department’s recommendation, the council agreed to prohibit landlords of rent-controlled apartments from dividing utility costs based on how many people live in each apartment and the unit’s size rather than how much gas or electricity they actua

The nation’s homeless population increased this year for the first time since 2010, driven by a surge in the number of people living on the streets in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual Point in Time count Wednesday, a report that showed nearly 554,000 homeless people across the country during local tallies conducted in January. That figure is up nearly 1 percent from 2016. Of that total, 193,000 p

Faced with some of the most expensive rental housing in the nation, some Bay Area residents are feeling priced out and are seeking low-cost alternatives. In Silicon Valley, a hub of computer and technology companies, some people are even turning to cars, vans and RVs for housing. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings has the story. This is part of an ongoing series of reports called “Chasing the Dream,” which reports on poverty and opportunity in Ameri

Reading our landlord’s renewal letter, my wife and I were hardly surprised yet still exasperated: For the second consecutive year, we’re facing a huge rent increase. A year ago, the corporation controlling our building raised our rent 20 percent, unwilling to discuss a fairer increase. Two weeks ago, we felt another gut punch: Pay another 16 percent or move out. That’s a 39 percent increase in two years. One way to balance rents and income to keep housing affordable is rent s

The City Council had a study session last week devoted to affordable housing. The session covered how San Jose could build more affordable housing, even though it has already publicly funded and completed roughly 21,000 such units in years past and has 1,500 additional units currently in the pipeline. As a point of comparison, other cities have done little during the same time period. Comments from the council included advocacy for the building of more traditional single fami