SVI winter2016

SIimlicopn Vraellesysions
Winter 2016

Celebrating Diversity, and Promoting Community Awareness, Understanding and Inclusiveness

The Crime Lab Bay Area Housing:
Crisis and
Interviews with Sandhill Property Founder Peter Pau,
Dr. Kenneth Fong, and County Supervisor Joe Simitian Opportunities
49er’s STEM Day at the Levi’s® Stadium

Silicon Valley arts: Silicon Valley Creates,
Gregory and Angie Burns
and More...

ISBN 978-0-692-40495-9

2 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

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SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

CONTENTS   SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 3
   

4 crime intelligence - Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory
8 our housing crisis and why we must work together to fix it - Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe

Simitian

11 A DAY AT LEVI’S® STADIUM - CHEVRON STEM BOWL @ 49ERS MUSEUM PRESENTED BY SONY
12 CUPERTINO HAS “FIRST WORLD” PROBLEMS - By Richard Lowenthal
12 who is building what in silicon Valley
14 bay area housing - by “The French Realtor” Catherine Hendricks
16 SOCIAL ACTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
18 APAPA Leadership profile: Dr. kenneth fong
20 BAY AREA HOUSING: DO WE HAVE A CRISIs?
23 ART FOR ALL HUMANITY: SILICON VALLEY CREATES
25 HEAVENLY SOUNDS UNDERGROUND
26 CALIFORNIA SENIOR LEGISLATURE (CSL) - 35YEARS OF SUPPORTING SENIOR LEGISLATION
27 INVESTING IN SILICON VALLEY COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
28 WINDOW DRESSING: New window technology
29 dressing up SILICON VALLEY: Interview with Peter Pau, founder of Sand Hill Property Company
31 kiss the ground you walk on Eco-friendly and comfortable floor technology
34 the silicon valley studio: gregory burns and angie tan-burns
36 SHARE THE LOVE OF MUSIC: An instrument donation program to benefit East Palo Alto Schools
37 LESS IS MORE: THE TINY HOUSE MOVEMENT

Cover photo: Lawrence/Monroe development in Santa Clara by James Gong

Our Magazine can be found at the following locations. For complete list of distributors please visit www.siliconvalleyimpressions.com

Submit letters and articles to the following address: [email protected] Advertise with us
Silicon Valley Impressions,20111 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite #280, Cupertino, CA 95014
Please send all inquiries to:
Silicon Valley Impressions Team [email protected]
Don Sun | Publisher
Beverly Lenihan | Editorial Advisor or call (408)202-1080
Ling Ling Kulla | Editor
James Gong | Chief Photographer
Ragini Sangameswara | Graphic Designer
Elizabeth Softky | Copy Editor and Proof-reader

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the writers and interviewees. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.
Copyright notice: No part of this publication and/or website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior written permission of the
publisher. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. Silicon Valley Impressions owns all rights to contributions, text and images, unless previously agreed to in
writing.

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

4 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

CRIME INTELLIGENCE

SANTA CLARA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S CRIME LABORATORY

Fire test - photo by Supervising Criminalist John Bourke Crime Lab Director Ian Fitch

T he mission of the Santa Departments of Campbell, Gilroy, for Julie’s murder, ending his long
Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, history of attacks on women.
Clara County District Attorney’s Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo
Crime Laboratory is to “provide Alto, San Jose, and Santa Clara. The Forensic Biology/DNA unit
accurate scientific services that in The Santa Clara County District
meet the needs of the criminal In 1991, a 26-year-old accoun- Attoney’s Crime Laboratory has
justice community in the most tant named Julie Bucalo was found solved other old cases, some dating
efficient manner possible. The dead, handcuffed on her waterbed, back to the 1970’s by using today’s
Crime Laboratory has earned inside her locked one-bedroom technology.
and will maintain its reputation cottage. During the initial investi-
for impartiality, integrity, and gation, a security guard who Aside from numerous movies and
excellence through open communi- worked in the same building as novels relating to solving crime,
cation, objective evaluation of the victim, Ralph Baldenegro, the public actually knows very
evidence, and active participation was brought up on charges, but little about this area of science.
in the forensic science profession. there was no evidence that he was The Crime Laboratory is accred-
We are proud to be advocates for present when she was murdered. ited to international standard ISO/
justice by pursuing truth through Police pursued other leads, but IEC17025 by the American Society
science.” noting solid emerged. It was filed of Crime Laboratory Directors/
away as a “cold case”. Laboratory Accreditation Board
The Crime Laboratory is deeply (ASCLD/LAB), and has interna-
rooted in the community and its Twenty-three-years later, in 2014, tional accreditation in a multiplicity
work affects many aspects of the the case was re-examined. The of disciplines.
community. During 2014, a total biological evidence under the
of 1,586 cases were submitted to victim’s fingernails and from her The Crime Laboratory has many
the Crime Laboratory, resulting in shirt were linked to Baldenegro. units utilizing various scientific
2,600 criminalistics requests. Cases He was finally brought to justice methods to solve crime, including:
were received from the Police

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 5

A crime lab with various equipments

The Crime Scene Unit - can be universities, and the California experiments provided knowledge
called by any law enforcement Highway Patrol. about what kind of evidence gives
agency to be present at a crime forensic results (scientific tests or
scene to search for and collect Chemistry/Trace - Since 2009, techniques used in connection with
evidence, as well as documenting this laboratory has been active- the detection of crime) follow-
the crime. ly working to reestablishing a full ing a fire. This information allows
service trace evidence program. In better samples to be submitted to
The Forensic Biology/DNA Unit - 2014, analysts completed training the laboratory, making the entire
analyses DNA from blood, semen, in both glass and paint analyses. system more efficient.
saliva, hair, fingernails, or pieces of Santa Clara County now has one of
skin, and compares them with the the most complete trace evidence Digital/Multimedia Evidence
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s sections in California. The unit can Unit: With the increased amount
DNA database. analyze an assortment of evidence, of computer, financial , and other
including hair, fiber, glass, paint, digital crimes, computers have
The Comparative Evidence Unit ignitable liquids, gunshot residue, become important sources of
- is comprised of the Firearms and and miscellaneous chemicals. evidence. In 2014, due to the wide
Latent Print Processing sections. use of cell phones, they too,have
The Firearms section compares During 2014, a total of 5,487 cases become a major source in solving
firearms to spent ammunition were submitted to this unit from crimes. Digital and Multimedia
collected at crime scenes, performs Police Departments in Santa Clara Evidence Unit personnel are
distance determinations, calculates County, the Sheriff’s department, trained in data acquisition and
bullet trajectories, and recovers California Highway Patrol as well recovery from various devices to
serial numbers from firearms. as colleges and universities. see that justice is done.

The Toxicology Unit - is respon- Playing with Fire: The trace Camera ready: In August of
sible for determining the level of evidence section, with the 2012, 24-year-old Juan Munoz
alcohol and/or drugs in biological assistance of the Santa Clara walked into a Safeway supermar-
samples. During 2014, it analyzed County Fire Investigation Task ket in San Jose and never walked
a total of 12,211 cases. The labora- force, in January 2014, did a fire out. In the produce section of the
tory receives blood alcohol, urine experiment to give criminalists the store, minutes after he arrived,
alcohol, and drug cases from police opportunity to conduct experiments he was confronted and fatally
departments in Santa Clara County, on how different types of evidence stabbed once by an ex-cowork-
as well as the Coroner’s office, react to being exposed to fire. The er, 27-year-old Michael Howard.
the Sheriff’s office, colleges and information obtained from the fire The confrontation was caught on

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

6 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

video, so there was no question of Howard, as he calmly went about experience. Each year, San Jose
the identity of the killer. However, his shopping, and Munoz, pacing State University graduates about
the case hinged on the intent of the the back aisle with the knife in his forty forensic scientists. However,
perpetrator. pocket before attacking Howard the Santa Clara County Crime
from behind and stabbing him once Laboratory only has three-to-four
All surveillance video from in the heart. The jury eventual- positions open each year, which is
the store’s forty-three cameras ly found Howard guilty of second typical of most crime labs in the
was sent to the Video Analysis degree murder. The video was United States. On top of that, most
lab. Criminalist Cordelia Willis invaluable in showing the actual of the local criminalists remain
was able to track the locations events leading up to the crime. on the job for a long time. This
of Munoz and Howard during career can be highly rewarding, but
their time in the store. A video For the Sherlock Holmes at anyone who wants to get into this
and maps were compiled using Heart: Generations have been field must think twice about job
numerous camera views, showing inspired to be the next Sherlock availability.
the movements of each of the two Holmes by popular literature,
subjects in real-time to assist jurors movies or TV shows featur- ~ Source for this article:
in understanding where the subjects ing scientists working behind Santa Clara County DA Crime
were in relation to each other. the scenes in crime analysis. Laboratory Annual Report by
But be warned - jobs are scarce. Criminalist Cordelia Willis and
The jury got to watch the disparate The discipline requires intensive Crime Laboratory Director Ian
activities of the two involved: training as well as on-the-job Fitch, PhD.

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“Dear Parents, Do Not Fill Out FAFSA & CSS Until
You Fully Understand The Very Complicated Rules of
Financial Aid and IRS Tax... “

How to avoid the deadliest mistakes in applying for college financial aid?

Parents, do you fit in any of the financial situation below:

• High Income with High Assets

• High Income with Normal Assets

• Low Income with High Assets

• Didn’t get or only got some financial aid after you sub-

mitted FAFSA/CSS

Parents, when you fill out FAFSA “as is”, for sure, you can-

Our Suggestions: not get college financial aid.

1. If your family income is over $300,000 and you only have one child or two children
four years apart---you should focus on saving taxes by setting up a Family Foundation.
2. For the rest of the families, please don’t fill out FAFSA with an “as is” financial situation.
You should listen to a financial aid professional’s audio to understand the basic rules of
Financial Aid, then position your family’s net income MAGI & net assets accordingly
before filling out FAFSA/CSS.
http://www.4089962002.com/Audio_Clips.php

Parents, without preparation, for sure When we make college
you cannot get college financial aid. more affordable, we make
Michael Chen the American dream more
achievable.
College Financial aid & Tax Planning Specialist,
Finacial Planner (Bill Clinton)

izquotes.com

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Case 1: Family Income over $300,000
An engineer’s family, after exercised its stock options (RSU), had income over $400,000. After setting up a
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Case 2: High Income with Normal Assets
An IT engineer’s family had a W-2 income around $200,000. As most parents, they never thought they would
qualify for financial aid, through our FinAid tax planning, they have reduced $100,000 net AGI income.
Each year they receive $40,000 financial aid and also $34,000 tax refund.

Case 3: Low Income with High Assets
A business owner with 5 rental properties had filled out FAFSA on their own and their
application for financial aid was rejected. After getting planning, help and guidance
from us, their child received $30,000 financial aid from UC’s and saved $120,000 for
four years.

Consult with us to avoid making mistakes.
We are the #1 Financial Aid and Tax Planning specialist!
Our email: [email protected]
Phone: 408.246.6900

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

8 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Our Housing Crisis

and Why We Must Work
Together to Fix it -

Santa Clara County Supervisor

Joe Simitian

Santa Clara County Supervisor to provide contracted services, law, it makes more economic sense,
providing more urgent care clinics, in a short term, for cities to approve
Joe Simitian is a familiar figure and implementing good business retail and business than it does for
in the community. He serves management practices to help the housing. New housing develop-
the 5th district, represent- county hospital to run efficiently. ment creates demand for schools,
ing Cupertino, Los Altos, Los libraries, roads and other public
Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo His next healthcare goal is to services. So it’s more difficult for
Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, and find better mental health servic- the city to approve new housing
portions of Sunnyvale and San es for local children and teens than to approve new businesses.
Jose. Making his “sidewalk office by allocating hospital rooms for
hours” in local Farmer’s markets, these patients who currently have Businesses create jobs, therefore,
he conducts one-on-one interac- to go to out-of-area hospitals such over time, on a regional basis,
tions with community members in as Contra Costa County or even we’ve created a tremendous job/
an informal manner, discussing Sonoma County for in-patient housing imbalance. In the 90s,
issues and questions. Making sure mental health care. the job to housing ratio was
that the county operates efficiently, six-to-one. At that time we had a
and effectively uses public funds, In this issue, we interviewed Joe housing crisis, too. Today, we are
he has helped provide many widely about the housing crisis in Silicon getting close to that crisis again.
available services at no or low Valley to get his point view of For example, Palo Alto has three
cost. possible areas for improvement. jobs per housing unit. That’s why
housing is so expensive there.
As a County Supervisor, he has Joe Simitian: The job-housing
three focuses: 1. Making sure the imbalance in Silicon Valley is SVI: What do you think we need to
county operates efficiently and a challenge we cannot solve solve our housing crisis?
responsibly with public funds. exclusively at the local level. At
2. Working to make sure that the the local level, residents feel the Joe Simitian: Without a larger
County implements the Affordable pressure of high costs in housing, regional and statewide effort to
Care Act in a thoughtful and robust but they don’t want more develop- balance the job-housing demands,
way to serve the public well. 3. ment either. They don’t want to leaving it to individual cities to
Ensuring that the public or constit- have high density population in make decisions based on their own
uents are well served in his district. their cities, but they are against short-term interests will acceler-
On the Board of Supervisors, Joe urban sprawl. The justification ate the significant job-housing
serves as Chair of The Finance is that many new developments imbalance that we see today.
and Government Operations are created for the high-income
Committee, and Vice Chair of the population displacing the The regional level associa-
Health and Hospital Committee. low-income population out of the tion of bay area governments,
He has implemented measures new housing development. RHNA, (Regional Housing Need
to make sure that the County has Assessment) quantifies the need for
available healthcare services for Under California Proposition 13 housing within each jurisdiction
residents, such as getting hospitals

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 9

during specified planning periods. Hewlett’’s father, Bill Hewlett, haroeuspinegopanled icnostthoefcloivminmg. u“nTi-here
It’s not a very effective system. CEO of Hewlett Packard, bought a ty who want Google and
It creates lots of aggravation and house in Palo Alto. Palo Alto at that Facebook to go to other parts
frustration that the community time was not ethnically diverse, of the country and create jobs
struggles with. With its mandate, but was genuinely economical- there. However, we also know
there are more plans, but no ly diverse. Today, that econom- that we have an abundance
housing. Ultimately, the long term, ic diversity is hard to come by and of jobs and economic activi-
big picture solution has to come hard to maintain because those who ties that are not benefiting all
at the state level, but that won’t be we consider are making a good sectors of society.”
quick. living cannot afford homes here.

We need to have a replacement SVI: Is there any policy from the We need to do better at linking job
for the affordable housing funds government level can provide help? creation and housing. It’s difficult
that were lost when redevelop- to ask Facebook and Google to
ment agencies went out existence a Joe Simitian: Our problems are build two million square feet
few years ago. The state has been unusual in that our housing crisis of facilities, and then ask these
slow to respond to that need. The is being caused by the fact that companies to build 3,000 houses
private sector, in time, will respond we have too many jobs. In other for jobs they create. However,
to create more housing, but the parts of the country, especial- we may see that change because
market is not equipped to provide ly the Northeastern United States, the situation is so dire that the
the range of affordable housing the Great Lakes, and the Midwest companies may provide their
that the community and the region States, it’s hard to fathom and say own solution to house their own
needs in order to have a balance. no to high skill and high paying employees. But even that is not
jobs in our community because enough to solve a region-wide
SVI: Do you think it is the private they are driving up prices of crisis.
sector’s responsibility to offer
affordable housing?

Joe Simitian: If we want a
permanent supply of affordable
housing that accommodates every
income level, we have to do some
affordable housing development
with the help from the govern-
ment. It is the government’s job to
focus on production and preser-
vation of affordable housing. It’s
not the private sector’s responsibil-
ity to provide affordable housing.
They need to do what is profitable
for them to do, which is to provide
housing for higher income levels.

I grew up in Palo Alto. My father
was a high school teacher, and
he bought our home in Palo Alto
with his single income. My best
friend’s father was a mechanic at
SLAC National Accelerator Lab,
and he also bought a house in Palo
Alto. The father of our classmate,
Joy Nicholas, a the daughter of a
custodian at Palo Alto High School
bought a home in Palo Alto. Mary

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

10 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Santa Clara Supervisor Joe Simitian meets people at the local farmer’s market It is also a public safety
issue. What happens
Many years ago we had company ~ In our last issue, we interviewed when we have an
towns. Forward thinking Cupertino’s Mayor Sinks about earthquake or floods?
companies who want to grow their transportation in the Valley. He The telephone-line repair
businesses need their employees to is working on a multi-city effort man, the PG&E lineman,
live near their work. It’s a matter to establish a public transpor- the cable man, the
of economic robustness that we tation network. Maybe we will nurses, the fire fighters,
have a place to live, we have sound see a similar joint-effort by other the paramedics that serve
transportation practices, and not cities to solve our housing needs. our region all live in
force people to drive hours from We all need to be more creative, Tracy. It will take them
great distances to fight traffic and more open, and we need to work hours to get to us in case
work here. together. of catastrophes. We have
priced them out.

- Joe Simitian

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SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 11

A DAY AT LEVI’S® STADIUM - CHEVRON STEM BOWL

@ 4 9 E R S M U S E U M PRESENTED BY SONY

About 400 Bay Area 4th - 8th ported by Chevron corporation and the Common Core and Next Gen-
the 49ers Foundation. eration Standards.
grade students gathered at Levi’s®
Stadium on December 9th, 2015 The multi-faceted day of learning The 49ers STEM Education Pro-
for the Chevron STEM Bowl, included exploring the museum, a gram was established in July, 2014
presented by the 49ers Foundation Levi’s® Stadium STEM-focused by the San Francisco 49ers Foun-
and KPIX 5. Building on the 49ers tour, a movement lab, and a STEM dation, Chevron, Silicon Valley
existing commitment to supporting lesson that leveraged football as Education Foundation (SVeF), and
Science, Technology, Engineer- a platform to connect, inspire and the Santa Clara Unified School
ing and Math (STEM) education engage the students. District. Currently, 120 7th and 8th
through an extensive field trip pro- graders explore learning opportuni-
gram hosted by the 49ers Museum There were eight activity stations ties at the Chevron STEM ZONE
presented by Sony, and the 49ers and students rotated every thirty at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa
STEM Leadership Institute, the minutes, enabling them to experi- Clara. This six-year program will
Chevron STEM Bowl is an educa- ence all elements of the day. Sta- expand into Santa Clara High
tional program for Bay Area chil- tions included: Solar Energy 101, School in Fall 2016.STEM day
dren, promoting classroom, as well Wireless Technology 101, LEED
as hands-on education. Design 101, Football Forces 101,
Stadium Design 101, Career Con-
The 49ers STEM Education Pro- nections 101, Football Math 101,
gram, the Denise DeBartolo Edu- and Game Day Motion 101. The
cation Center and Chevron STEM experience was aligned with both
ZONE, which opened along with
Levi’s® Stadium in 2014, are sup-

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

12 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Cupertino

has First World Problems

By RICHARD LOWENTHAL

Compared to global issues of here and have their kids go to our us with a big traffic challenge. We
local schools. That’s because our have three options to deal with
terrorism, nationalism, climate elementary schools, high schools, traffic: 1) Don’t allow new people
change, fragile economies, and De Anza College are among to come to Cupertino to live or
unemployment, and accommodat- the best in our state and the nation. work, 2) Accept worsening traffic,
ing Syrian refugees, Cupertino’s Those schools are attracting more or 3) Come up with innovative
problems don’t seem so bad. families and more traffic - our ways to address the traffic problem.
population has increased by more
Issues in Cupertino stem from than 7% in the last five years. We should embrace our success
having booming employment and in job creation and education but
great schools. Our school districts have done address the traffic challenge. We
a masterful job of continuing to must invest in transit and smart
The biggest challenge we have is improve in the face of popula- growth. We should expect our
Apple’s success. Apple Campus tion growth. In fact, the more city leaders to balance homes
2 will bring 12,000 new jobs to people that live here, the better our and jobs to shorten commutes,
Cupertino. The jobs are good; the kids do and our schools continue and add transit options so that we
customers it brings to our retail to improve in State performance stop clogging our roads. The most
businesses are good; the tax income rankings. promising transit options for us
it brings to Cupertino is good; and are shuttles and rail, and we need
then there’s the traffic, and that’s We are fortunate indeed to be a leadership from our city and county
not so good. great place to work and a great officials to bring us those traffic
place to go to school, but it leaves solutions.
The other big problem we have
is that everyone wants to live

WHO IS BUILDING WHAT in silicon valley

We have compiled a list of residential sites that are in planning or CONSZToRnUeCTION
construction. The list consists of only 100 units and above developments.

CUPERTINO Developer Number of units
Sandhill Property 120 Apts.
Address
Main Street

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 13

MOUNTAIN VIEW Developer Number of Units
Prometheus 605 Apts.
Address Lennar 204 Multi-family Units
400 San Antonio Road UDR 160 Apts.
2268 El Camino Prometheus 162 Apts.
1984 W. El Camino Real Greystar 164 Apts.
1720 W. El Camino Real Lennar 150 Units residential
801 W. El Camino Real Prometheus 184 Apts.
865 E. El Camino Real EFL Development 394 Apts.
100 Moffet Blvd.,
500 Ferguson Drive Developer Number of units
BHV Center Street Properties 185 Apts.
FREMONT Silicon Sage Builders 93 Condos
785 residential units
Address Lennar 2214 residential units
37070 Fremont Blvd., 1001 residential units
42111, 42183 Osgood Road TMG/Regis Homes Bay Area 157 residential Units
Valley Oak’s Old Warm Spring Blvd
Lennar Warm Springs Developer Number of units
Toll Bros Warm Spring Village Prometheus 222 residential units
State Street Essex Property 476 residential units
Summerhill homes 110 single family, 165 senior Apts.
SANTA CLARA The Irvine Company 825 Apts
Prometheus 793 Housing Units
Address Citation Homes 133 Apts.
45 Buckingham Dr. 66 N. Saratoga Ave. Summerhill homes 186 Apts.
3610 and 3700 El Camino Real
90 N. Winchester Blvd., Developer Units
3515-3585 Monroe St. Sobrato 175
900 Kiely Blvd.,
3229 El Camino Real Greystar Real Estate 535
2611-2655 El Camino Real Quattro Realty Group 292
BRE Properties 280
SUNNYVALE Summerhill Homes 103
Taylor Morrison 132
Address St. Anton Partners 97
1095 W. El Camino Real Urban Housing Group 105
Prometheus 117
1120 Kifer Raintree Partners 465
2502 Town Center Lane SRGNC MF 205
311 Capella Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition 121 affordable housing
660 W. El Camino Real DR Horton 192
1044 East Duane De Anza Properties 160
1101 N. Fair Oaks Ave. Watt Investments 451
455 Mathilda Ave. Irvine Company 186
457-475 E. Evelyn Ave
520 E. Weddell
610 E. Weddell
620 E. Maude
710 E. Evelyn Ave
871 E. Fremont Ave
915 De Guigne
955 Stewart

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

14 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

BAY AREA HOUSING: A REALTOR’S VIEW

R elocation specialist and realtor that prices stabilized instead of many expensive homes have been
dropping. purchased for cash, yet nobody
Catherine Hendricks calls herself lives in them, and they have no
“The French Realtor”. Catherine To understand this market better, renters. One explanation is that in
has helped her clients get settled you have to realize that the San Asia especially, these homes are
into their new lives in Silicon Francisco Bay limits the size of usually considered a good invest-
Valley for over fifteen years. land available for housing. Still, ment, and an easy way to access
Having relocated from France, people from all over the world good schools in the United States.
Catherine brought with her an come here every day, attracted However, all these houses sitting
extensive background in public by tech companies like Google, empty have taken away housing for
relations and marketing communi- Facebook, Linkedin, Square, Box, people who live and work here and,
cations. Today, she is known as a as well as Stanford University. in the meantime, making real estate
great listener and highly-valued They’re also enticed by the prices sky rocket.
partner in any real estate transac- good schools and an amazing
tion, especially among the expat quality of life. According to a For all these reasons, the real estate
community in Silicon Valley. new Employment Development inventory in Silicon Valley is very
Department report, the Bay Area limited, and often leads to multiple
Over the years, Catherine has added 17,300 jobs during October offers on homes with upwards of
gathered an extensive network 2015. 20 to 30% price increases in some
of professionals such as lawyers, communities.
bankers, and mortgage and At the same time, you also have
insurance brokers around her, a population that has been living Are there tips on when or how to
giving her a complete set of experts in Silicon Valley for 60 years or find good deals?
to help her clients navigate the so, who were able to buy their
Silicon Valley real estate market. homes for what would be consid- “Like everywhere else, the market
ered a steal today, many going also works in cycles, with ups and
Catherine works and resides with for between $20,000 to $30,000. downs. From late November to
her family in Palo Alto, and is very These homes are worth two to late January, before the Superbowl,
involved in her community. We three million dollars right now. homes tend to stay longer on the
interviewed her to learn about how However, most of these owners market, with sometimes lower
the real estate market has been won’t sell because they are afraid prices. I know that a lot of people
doing in past years, and where she of the capital gains taxes they take a ”break” from real estate
sees it heading next. would have to pay. There are ways during that time, but for buyers, it
to ease these concerns, but most may be a good idea to keep looking
On the so-called ”Bubble” and people resist consulting profession- for a home when there is less
why this market is so different: als regarding this issue. Another competition around. From February
concern is where would they move until summer, the market usually
“With some variations of course, to if they wanted to stay in the Bay goes back up, with the usual
the real estate market as it is today Area after selling their home. slowdown in August.
has existed on and off for the past
fifteen years. Yes, there was a kind Another issue for the market is Then there is the “off market”
of a rough patch for the market the existence of so-called “ghost phenomenon, where a home
in 2008-2009, but what it really towns”. In some neighborhoods, does not get listed on the official
meant, here in Silicon Valley, is

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 15

realtors’ database (the Multiple Street in Mountain View. They for range from $1,500,000 to
Listing Service). A limited number usually start looking for something $2,000,000. ”
of realtors know about the trend they can’t afford, with a budget
and are in charge of finding of $800,000 to $1,000,000, then What do you think will happen in
potential buyers. It is usually not change their minds, especial- the next two years?
recommended, as there is way ly since between Menlo Park
less visibility for the seller. There and Mountain View, these type “Interest rates are going to go up,
are no open houses for example, of properties tend to go for which will affect some segments of
and the house may be market- $1,200,000 and up, depending on the market. Also, the up-coming
ed to a smaller number of buyers. size and location. elections plus anticipated tax
However, once again, with less reforms could have a substantial
competition among buyers, if you Then you have people with impact on the market. Besides, as I
are lucky you might find a hidden children who come to the Peninsula mentioned before, the Valley needs
gem. for it’s great schools, and family- to expand, and it can’t do so in
oriented communities. Many the Peninsula or in San Francisco,
Another solution for buyers is to recently relocated European or for obvious geographical reasons.
have a longer commute, and I see Asian families look for townhous- But there’s already a trend of tech
many people now living in San es in communities with servic- companies moving to Oakland,
Carlos, Oakland or even Danville, es like pools or tennis courts, or and a lot of people don’t hesitate
in order to be able to afford bigger for detached houses in sought- to commute from the East Bay, the
properties for less. This, of course, after neighborhoods. Their budget San Joaquin Valley or even Santa
creates traffic for our community. might go up to $1,600,000 when Cruz. I think in the next few years
they start, but in reality, prices for we are going to see a lot more of
Who are your clients and what the type of home they are looking these trends.”
are they looking for?

“Many of my clients are first- Silicon
time owners in the United States, Valley
meaning they are expats who Builds
usually already own property on
in their home country. They get
transferred here by their company,
or come on their own to find a new
job. They then discover the reality
of the rental market in Silicon
Valley and often want to buy a
home, which can prove difficult
for them. The prices are steep, of
course, but also, as expats, most
of these future owners do not have
any credit history here to help
them get a loan. Europeans are
also sometimes surprised by the
wooden construction of the houses
in California.

I also have Millennials as clients.
These are younger childless
couples who usually want to find
a home close to shops, restaurants,
and mass transit, with the possibil-
ity of walking everywhere. They
tend to buy condos or townhous-
es, around downtowns like Castro

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

16 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Social
Action
for
Affordable
Housing

T he current region-wide housing

crisis has left many medium-to-
low income families unable to rent
or buy a house. Many of the area’s
professional population, including
teachers, firefighters, and nurses,
have been priced-out, leaving
them with no alternatives except
purchasing affordable homes that
are hours away from where they
work.

Not only they are losing precious affordable housing units in Art work by Melissa Klein
time with their families with long San Mateo; supported afford-
commutes, but communities are able housing at the former Bay housing conditions. www.acceac-
being put at risk when emergen- Meadows race track site; supported tion.org
cy personnel don’t live close by. the opening of 89 units of low cost
This large displacement cannot family housing and a full range of Residents Insisting on Social
go unaddressed. Here are ten services for people at risk; won $18 Equity for Fremont: RISE is
social action organizations in the million for the Santa Clara County a coalition of 52 organizations
Bay Area who are taking a stand Office of Affordable Housing. representing more than 28,000
for these invaluable community www.piapico.org/aboutus.html Fremont families. RISE advocates
members. stronger renters’ protections such
Alliance of Californians for as rent control and just cause for
Urban Habitat: promotes afford- Community Empowerment: eviction. www.risefremont.org
able housing near job and public promotes changes in housing
transit areas, organizes against policy in Oakland, helps protect The Housing Leadership
displacement of low-income homeowners facing foreclosures, Council of San Mateo County:
households, seeks economic and and advocates for tenants fighting promotes the building and preser-
social justice for minority popula- increasing rents and unstable vation of quality affordable homes.
tions in cities ,and advocates for HLCSMC is a strong advocate
rent control. http://urbanhabitat.org for Development Impact Fees and

Peninsula Interfaith Action:
holds public hearings to increase

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 17

commercial linkage fees. www. The Housing Trust of Silicon Just Cause Evictions. Its Residents

hlcsmc.org Valley: provides loan and United Network (RUN) aims

The Palo Alto Housing downpayment assistance for to create a statewide advocacy
Corporation: develops, acquires, low and moderate income home movement for affordable homes.
and manages low and moderate buyers; provides loans for develop- http://ebho.org
income housing in the Bay Area ers building affordable rental units
such as the City of Palo Alto’s for seniors, working families, the The UC Berkeley Urban
Below Market Rate (BMR) homeless, special needs popula- Displacement Project: is a
Program. Currently, they oversee tion, and individuals and families research and action initiative of
development and/or acquisition of moving from homelessness or the university in collaboration with
over 600 units of rental housing. unsuitable housing into permanent researchers at UCLA, communi-
www.paloaltohousingcorp.org sustainable housing. It has facilitat- ty based organizations, regional
ed over 20,000 affordable housing planning agencies and the State of
First Community Housing opportunities from Palo Alto to California’s Air Resources Board.
(FCH): is a Public Benefit Housing Gilroy. www.housingtrustsv.org The project aims to understand
Development Corporation. FCH the nature of gentrification and
has provided more than 1,300 East Bay Housing Organizations: displacement in the Bay Area. It
units of affordable rental housing (EBHO) is an interfaith organi- focuses on creating tools to help
throughout the San Francisco Bay zation working to preserve and communities identify the pressures
area for low-income families and replace affordable housing resourc- surrounding them and take more
individuals, senior citizens, and es lost through the elimina- effective action.” www.urbandis-
special needs populations such as tion of redevelopment agencies placement.org
the chronically ill, the mentally in early 2012. EBHO advocates
impaired and the developmentally for dedicated statewide afford-
disabled. www.firsthousing.com able housing funds, and promotes
Tenant Protection Ordinance and

Residents, affordable housing advocates, workers, faith-leaders, and community members gathered to demand a strong housing
impact fee in Oakland! Courtesy: East Bay Housing Organizations

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

18 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

APAPA LEADERSHIP PROFILE: DR. KENNETH FONG

Dr. Kenneth Fong, Ph.D, is the 2012 to 2014. He also promised a lung and skin cancer, patients now
Chairman and Founder of Kenson matching fund to build a monument have higher survival rates, and the
Ventures, LLC, a venture capital at Gold Run, a former settle- treatments have much less side
firm that provides funds and ment of early Chinese laborers effects. The extension of immuno-
strategic advice to biotechnolo- in California, to recognize and therapy to a greater number of
gy start-ups and companies. Prior commemorate those who lost their cancers will most likely result in
to this, Dr. Fong founded Clontech lives during the construction of higher survival rates and tolerable
Laboratories in 1984, a molecular the United States Transcontinental levels of side effects.
biology company that grew to 400 Railroad 150 years ago.
employees, with annual revenues of SVI: What are your biggest
$80 million dollars before merging SVI: You have spent your entire achievements?
with Becton Dickinson in 1999. career in biotech. What do you
think are its biggest achievements? Dr. Fong: My former company,
He received a bachelor’s degree Clontech, provides technolo-
in biology and chemistry at San Dr. Fong: One of the biggest gy for isolation of genes. This
Francisco State University, and a achievements in biotech is person- helped people working in biotech
Ph.D. degree in molecular biology alized medicine, which treats to study genes involved in disease
at Indiana University. patients with specific drugs based formation. Our technology was
on the individual’s genetic makeup. used in the biomedical communi-
Dr. Fong is also is a dedicat- In the past, cancer patients used ty such as universities and biomed-
ed philanthropist and communi- the same kind of drugs regard- ical companies. Armed with the
ty activist. He has volunteered less of their genetic profile. Cancer knowledge of human and animal
much of his time and resources treatments involve small molecule genes, today the industry is able
to promoting cultural understand- drugs, chemical therapies, and to develop new treatments and
ing of Asian Americans. He is radiation. These treatments are medicines.
the secretary of APAPA’s (Asian designed to eliminate cancer cells,
Pacific Islander Public Affaris but also killed lots of healthy cells. After that, I spent fifteen years
Association)national board. He as a venture capital investor,
supports the 80-20 Initiative, a Side effects from these treatments working with the next genera-
non-partisan organization whose often make cancer patients lives tion of entrepreneurs to build and
mission is to win fair representa- miserable. In the past, most cancers develop their companies in the
tion of Asian Americans in political were treatable, but not curable. biotech field. I used what I learned
appointments. With the development of immunon- from my own experiences to help
cology using antibody therapy to potential entrepreneurs succeed. I
He also supports local education- target specific cancers, especially have since helped cultivate quite
al and cultural institutions through a few entrepreneurs to develop
donations to the Y.C. Fung their companies successfully (six
Bioengineering Auditorium at mergers and acquisitions and two
U.C. San Diego, scholarships at IPOs). This is gratifying to me
San Francisco State University, the because these successful entrepre-
Chinese Historical and Cultural neurs are in turn helping other
Project, and the senior service younger people to be successful
agency, Self-Help for the Elderly. entrepreneurs, and the cycle repeats
Dr. Fong was a trustee of the itself.
California State University system
from 2006 to 2013. I am also very involved in
community work - it’s a natural
Dr. Fong helped select three extension of my career. I use the
presidents of Asian descent for same result-oriented business
California State universities from approach. I would target a specific

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 19

project, assess the probability of massive scale within a generation. for things to happen, but to move
reaching the pre-set goals and then ahead to assume their share of
I keep focused on those goals. The knowledge based revolution leadership and responsibility.
Community work requires the needs a large supply of engineers
similar kind of skill set and leader- and scientists. India and China SVI: What do you think the future
ship as in business to succeed. The happen to provide a large supply of Silicon Valley will be?
only difference is that you don’t get chain for Silicon Valley to tap into.
a paycheck. It is at the right place and the right Dr. Fong: As Silicon Valley is
time in history that this conflu- the world leader in creating new
SVI: What do you look for when ence of opportunities and supply technology enterprises, there will
you select companies to invest in? of intellectual labor forces meet. be increasing interactions and
As in the past, the immigrants connections between China and
Dr. Fong: I invest in people. I look always showed up in America, and India as developing nations while
for people who have the following America has the heart and tradition the U.S plays the role of the
five characteristics: to welcome them to create opportu- developed world. This kind of
nities for all the world to enjoy. linkage is complementary in nature
Energy: I invest in people with high and eventually will develop into a
energy. In the competitive field of Indian and Chinese immigrants mutually beneficial relationship. A
technology and business, one needs share many similarities. The case in point is Apple’s iPhone that
to work long hours and tirelessly younger immigrants, armed with was designed and invented in the
pursue perfection. Without energy, the knowledge of the newest United States, assembled in China,
it is hard to advance further. technologies, are hard-working and and is now increasingly dependent
ambitious to create new enterprises. on China for its market share
Competence: I invest in the people Nearly 40% of the new companies and expansion. As the technol-
who are among the best in their here are started by either Indian or ogy markets steadily develop in
fields. Chinese immigrants. There are also China and India, more American
differences. Indians are represent- talent will be attracted to those two
Focus: To succeed, one must be ed in much higher managerial countries for opportunities. This
focused and strive to be number positions than the Chinese because trend may happen slowly over the
one or two in the chosen niche they speak English before they next ten to twenty years.
market. arrive here.
America is always a haven for new
Persistence: A person with passion Their English skills, coupled with technology and enterprises, and
is persistent and keeps coming their desire to debate and speak as long as this spirit of attracting
back despite failure. up for their rights, have made it the best and the brightest to join
possible for them to rise in the the immigrant class remains with
Leadership: Good leaders have American executive hierarchy policy makers in Washington D.C.,
vision and charisma. They can because the United States is more the future for Silicon Valley looks
attract people to follow him or her. receptive to this kind of assertive bright.
The higher the vision, the bigger leadership style. On the other
the business. hand, Chinese immigrants cultur- Silicon Valley is a great place
ally are not so ready to challenge because many people have invested
SVI: What do you think makes or question authority. Many remain here financially, emotionally, and
Silicon Valley unique? engineers. If they ever want to intellectually. We recognize that
realize their dreams, they must the greatness of a community is
Dr. Fong: Silicon Valley, and become entrepreneurs and form inseparable from its people.
increasingly, San Francisco, are their own companies.
the epicenters of the knowledge-
based revolution that has produced However, Chinese immigrants have
household names like Apple, something to learn from Indian
Google, Facebook, Intel, Cisco, executives in their assertive leader-
Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. ship style. If they believe they can
No other place in the world had this make Silicon Valley a better place,
monopoly of distinction on such a the best thing to do is not to wait

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

20 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Patterson Ranch Development, Fremont CA

Bay Area Housing:

Average rental prices for apartments listed by cities:

San Francisco: one-bedroom for $2896/month and two- bedrooms for $3653.
San Jose: one-bedroom for $2410/month and two bedrooms for $3019/month.
Cupertino: one bedroom for $2476/month and two bedrooms for $3128/month.
Santa Clara: one bedroom for $2440/month and two bedrooms for $3068/month.
Palo Alto: one bedroom for $2545/month and two bedroom for $3282.
Mountain View: one bedroom for $2500/month and two bedroom for $3193.
Sunnyvale: one bedroom for $2477/month and two bedroom for $3139.
Milpitas: one bedroom for $2422/month and two bedroom for $3034.
Fremont: one bedroom for $2261/month and two bedroom for $2759.
- October 2015, data by Rent Jungle https://www.rentjungle.com
SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 21

Photo by James Gong

Photo by JAMES GONG

Do we have a crisis?

Bay Area median home sales prices:

4/1-12/07/2015 data by Paragon Real Estate Group http://www.paragon-re.com Palo Alto: $2,682,000, East Palo Alto: $625,000
Menlo Park: $2,010,000
Atherton: $5,400,000
Woodside: $2,600,000

Mountain View: $1,745,000
Los Altos: $2,725,000
San Jose: $850,000
Saratoga: $2,300,000
Los Gatos: $1,635,000
Fremont: $855,000

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

22 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM Silicon Valley’s Elegent Boutique Hotel

The Grand Hotel

865 W El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
800-786-0827 | 408-720-8500. fax: 408-720-1997 | http://www.svGrandHotel.com

Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Grand Hotel amenities include:
Hotel in Sunnyvale is just 20 minutes south of SFO, • Daily Hot Breakfast Box
nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley. Grand Hotel is • Cocktails and Hors d’ oeuvres served in the
independently owned and offer some of widest array
of amenities extended to any hotel guest that stays in Lounge daily
the area. • Wi-Fi
The Grand Hotel has newly renovated room • Business Center Access w/ complimentary print-
so the guests can enjoy extra comfort and space. The
Grand Hotel also have suites with Kitchenette where ing
you can cook a simple meal for your family. Welcome • Access to Local Health Clubs
home! • Special Rates for Luxury SUV service to and

from San Jose International Airport and San
Francisco International Airport
• Daily Parking​

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 23

Art for all Humanity: Silicon Valley Creates

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only
thing that ever has. –Margaret Mead”

SVCreates is a network of thoughtful, committed leaders dedicated to enhancing Silicon Valley’s cultural and
aesthetic quality of life. With over 30 years of history in supporting the arts, SVCreates says “Yes, we can” to
changing lives through arts and creativity.

Two years ago Arts Council Silicon Valley and 1stAct Silicon Valley merged to become SVCreates. Today,
the reinvented organization is thriving with a long list of accomplishments and exciting future projects in the
pipeline.

A sampling of SVCreates’ contributions to our community includes:

~ The Artist Laureate Program has awarded 148 Fellowships to local artists and invested over $400,000 in
their work.

~ The ArtsEdConnect program has created a “market place” for teachers that have increased access to arts
education. Launched in 2012 partnership with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, over $200,000 in
mini-grants have been awarded to teachers that benefitted over 10,000 students.

~ ArtSPARK, a partnership with the Silicon Valley Symphony, has provided a full day of multi-cultural art
programs to over 80,000 elementary school children.

~ Artsopolis, an arts and culture calendaring program, serves 45 communities across the nation with over 200
partners and millions of arts consumers who use its cultural content daily.

~ The Studio provides a multi-media lab for over 1500 students annually.

~ The publication of Content Magazine (acquired in 2015) has raised the visibility of our creative culture
and has launched Content LABs, a series of bimonthly networking events, hands-on experiences, networking
opportunities, presentations, and portfolio reviews by leaders in the creative industry.

~ The transformation of the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose into the School of Arts and Culture at
MHP has provided after school classes, summer camps, holiday celebrations, ethnic dances, festivals and has
brought joy, learning, and a sense of belonging to thousands of children and families.

With such a rich and diverse portfolio of accomplishments, what will
2016 bring? We were excited to speak with SVCreates CEO Connie
Martinez about their 2016 priorities and challenges.

SVI: SVCreates has been involved in so many exciting projects over
the past few years. What are your plans for 2016?

Connie: We are all about making arts relevant to our unique Connie Martinez, CEO of Silicon Valley Creates
community. We understand that “technology and innovation” is the
main event in Silicon Valley and to that end, we want the arts to be
in service to the main event, which means an emphasis on cultural
heritage, participatory arts, children’s creativity, innovation and place

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

24 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

making. We want to be the organi- million naming opportunity for the team in early 2015. Together we
new Center. are driving the development of a
zation that builds and leverages companion app, growing distri-
bution and increasing opportuni-
partnerships between our multicul- ties for “creatives” to gather and
tural, high tech community and our Secondly, SVCreates is leading an network through Content Labs and
effort to build a Creative Center Pick Up Parties.
arts and cultural ecosystem.
for the Arts in Japan Town. This SVI: You mentioned the culture
of Silicon Valley, which creates
In 2016 we plan to stay the is a mixed-use development that unique challenges and opportuni-
ties for the arts. What does it take
course with our capacity building includes housing, retail, a park to be a successful arts organization
programs and advance three major plaza and our center. Our vision is here?
to strengthen our arts and culture
initiatives. Connie: First of all context is
ecosystem through shared servic- important. Our region is relative-
ly young, extremely wealthy and
The first is Imagine VMC. We es and back office solutions, below well educated, having attract-
ed people from all over the world.
are helping Valley Medical CCeonncteeprtual Plamn arket rehearsal, studio and office We are a “valley of immigrants”
connected to some place else. We
CCA BUILDING grew to global acclaim in record
speed because of our technology
NORTH RESIDENTIAL and innovation combined with our
BUILDING start up, entrepreneurial culture.
Our rapid growth accelerated a
SOUTH RETAIL/ suburban development pattern that
RESIDENTIAL ultimately “grew into” our region’s
BUILDING largest city, San Jose.

NORTH 6TH STREET All of these factors influence the
health and well being of our cultur-
VIEWCFCROAMCTHoEnPAcReKpt: Artist Rendering of Creative Center for the Arts al ecosystem. We don’t have a
dominant culture to rally around.
transform a 300,000 square ftSeptember 24th, 2015 - Conceptual Design Presentation spaces, and a place for individualCreative Center for the Arts, Japantown San Jose 87 Our energy is dispersed across our
Women and Children’s Center artists and organizations to collab- suburban built environment, our
by infusing spaces with arts orate and advance their work. Our philanthropy is global right out of
and creativity. Our vision is to core resident partners are San the gate, we are “hands on” tinker-
demonstrate the healing power of Jose Taiko and CreaTV. We are ers aligned with digital culture and
the arts, replace fear and anxiety also partnering with the develop- participatory arts. There is a reason
with wonder and joy, build er Related California and the City that the Maker Faire and Burning
community and create a sense of of San Jose, whose plans include Man appeals to a large segment of
place. Working with the Valley the gift of land and infrastruc- our population.
Medical Center Foundation, we ture to our project valued at over
have helped raise $10 million to $5million. In 2016, we are launch- New money acts differently than
date and have recruited a network ing a $25million fund raising old and we don’t have the tradition-
of fourteen culture partners (eg campaign with the hopes of al social elite that has historically
Palo Alto Jr. Museum, Monterey breaking ground in 2017. funded the arts in America. Rather,
Bay Aquarium, History San Jose, we have the technology elite who
Children’s Discovery Museum and Lastly, we are focused on develop- are trying to drive global systems
Tech Museum, etc) to join us in our ing a sustainable business model change through their philanthro-
“community barn raising” efforts. for Content Magazine and leverag- py. As a result, the majority of
Our plans include new and existing ing its assets to raise the value and our foundation, corporate and
art works, interactive exhibits, visibility of our creative culture.
redesign of spaces and iconic
public art installations. In 2016, we Daniel Garcia, the founder of
are focused on design and initial Content Magazine and creative
implementation and securing a $15 entrepreneur, joined the SVCreates

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 25

individual giving leaves the region. a balanced and diversified portfolio “It is in Apple’s DNA that technol-
And innovation invites “churn”, so of earned and donor income. ogy alone is not enough—it’s
constant change makes it difficult technology married with liberal
to hold people’s and organization’s We believe that the arts play an arts, married with the humanities,
attention and commitment. integral role in the health and that yields us the results that make
well-being of our region and that our heart sing.” - Steve Jobs, in
So bottom line - in order to thrive there are endless opportunities to introducing the iPad 2 in 2011
in Silicon Valley, an arts organiza- make a difference through the arts,
tion needs to do things differently. Silicon Valley style. Everything We salute SVCreates efforts to
Our offerings have to be relevant we do plays to the strength of our strengthen our culture ecosystem in
to our demographic. We need to diversity and innovative culture. Silicon Valley. What we do for the
communicate and build web like There are excellent examples of arts extends beyond our region and
relationships the way our culture what works across our multicul- our generation. The power of the
does to attract, grow and sustain tural and traditional arts organiza- arts is universal and an expression
audience and supporters. We need tions. SVCreates is simply trying of our humanity.
to be entrepreneurial in the way to strengthen our cultural assets
we run our organizations – from already in place, increase access to
scrappy good to scrappy great— the arts and raise the visibility and
and we need to “lean market”, with value of our creative culture.

HEAVENLY SOUNDS UNDERGROUND

Photo and story: John A. Swearingen

I heard the clarinet before I saw jazz musician having played all constantly changing parade of
over the United States. Fondly he people appreciative, friendly and
it. Someone nearby was playing recalled how he had been given a generous. Some of them have
the sweet, soothing notes of Duke big break tears ago in New York become good friends. He has no
Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady. by music critic John Hammond, a plans to change this sustaining,
Its lovely sound became louder Vanderbilt family-wealthy talent daily routine.
as I approached the elevator in scout who loved American Negro
BART’s underground station at the jazz and helped individual talents As a crowd gathered he began
Embarcadero. join major orchestras, mostly in playing the opening notes of
Harlem.. When those orchestras Hoagie Carmichael’s Stardust.
Drawing nearer I saw it was waned in the last decades of the Glancing at my watch brought the
being played by an elderly black 20th century Don struck out on disappointing awareness that I must
man seated on a folding chair. his own, eventually settling in San be moving on to the Ferry Building
Charmed as a serpent I stopped Francisco about 20 years ago. to catch the Sausalito ferry.
to linger awhile in this thorough-
ly pleasant, mesmerizing experi- I was sad as I rode the elevator up
ence. When consciousness intrud- to street level and emerged into the
ed I went up and conspicuously bright sunlight of a less pleasant
dropped a couple of dollars into time.
his open cashbox. Then, I backed
away and took several photos. I do
photography.

After finishing the song he looked He finds the underground BART
at me and offered conversation. His stations entirely to his liking. He
name was Don Cunningham and is sheltered from the elements,
allowed as how he was a lifelong the acoustics are superb, and the

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

26 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Investing in Silicon Valley Commercial Real Estate:

A Snapshot of Office Building Market at the beginning of 2016

Marian Chaney, DRE # 01937247 employment now stands at a record Developers and investors are doing
one million jobs while unemploy- what they can to meet the growing
(408)805-6680 / (650)383-7388 ment is down to just 3.8%. The demand for office space in the
Bay Area now has the highest labor Silicon Valley. Currently more than
[email protected] force on record, and the best job 6 million square feet of office space
growth among the 51 metro areas is under construction, with total
www.MarianChaney.com in the nation with at least 1 million potential development reaching
residents or more, fueled by a tech more than an astounding 47 million
Your Realtor for Life! companies that are continuously square feet in the form of proposed
growing. developments. Recent new
A s a commercial real estate agent completions include Samsung’s
The office market in the Silicon North San Jose 680,000 square foot
at Keller Williams Commercial and Valley ended 2015 with a vacancy build-to-suit project on North First
a CCIM candidate, I keep a close rate of 7.5%, down slightly from Street, and two buildings preleased
eye on the trend of commercial the 7.7% rate recorded in Q3 and by Netflix in Los Gatos totaling
real estate market in the bay area, substantially lower than the 9.6% 242,500 square feet; which the
especially in Silicon Valley, where reading of one year ago. The 7.5% developer, Sandhill Properties sold
my family and I live and I do most vacancy translates to 5.7 million to CBRE Global Investors for a
of my business. Not only do I square feet (msf) of availabilities reported $179 million.
pay attention to numbers, but also down from 6.7 msf from one year
actively go out to meet other agents ago. Even with more than 6.4 msf In Q4 of 2015, the largest leasing
and developers – unlike residential of new office space added over deal in the Bay Area was done in
agents who find majority of listings the last 12 months, local vacancy the Silicon Valley. A confiden-
on MLS, commercial agents learn levels continue to decrease as most tial tenant pre-leased the 777,000
about deals mostly through owners of this new development is either sqft project from Landbank
directly and other colleagues. in the form of build-to-suits (bts) or Investments in Sunnyvale. Also
I’m honored to share some of my speculative projects that are being contributing to the record gross
learning with the readers of Silicon leased up prior to delivery. Office absorption for the year was a large
Valley Impression, and this first space average rent also climbed user sale. Broadcom purchased
issue we will focus on office space. in Q4 to $3.89 per square foot four buildings in North San Jose
on a monthly full service basis, totaling 573,000 sf. Included in
At the close of 2015, Silicon Valley up from $3.51 psf one year ago. the sale was expansion land where
remains the nation’s strongest job
market. Employment in the region
has increased substantially since
the beginning of the current cycle;
the region has added over 154,700
jobs since Q1 2011. Total regional

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 27

an additional 500,000 sf can be well-located, modern buildings new space at speculative develop-
built. Other notable transactions with long-term tenancy in place. ments to be leased up at a fairly
include Facebook (210,000 sqft in The balance of the construc- quick pace. Meanwhile, look for
Menlo Park) and Visa (62,000sf in tion should be completed in 2016 rents to continue to climb into the
Palo Alto). Not showing any signs which may result in a slight uptick first quarter of 2016.
of slowing down, Apple leased of vacancy. However, demand
another 200,000 sqft in North San remains extremely strong for class If you need help to purchase or
Jose. A product and there are several lease office space, my team and
large tenants in the market looking I would provide consultation and
Investor demand for office space for space. The Silicon Valley shows help to locate the space for you.
remains robust, particularly for no signs of slowing. We expect

California Senior Legislature (CSL)-35 Years of
Supporting Senior Legislation - By Lauren Rolfe

S ince 1989 the California sponsored by CSL include reinstat- Lauren Rolfe lives and volunteers
ing the Property Tax Deferment in Solano County, Ca. She has a
Senior Legislature (CSL) has program that allows deferment of degree in Organizational Behavior
been proposing senior supportive property taxes until the low income and Rehabilitation Administra-
legislation and acting to get that senior is no longer living in the tion. As Vice President of Human
legislation signed into law. To date home, helping to prevent senior Services for Goodwill Industries
the organization has successful- homelessness. Perhaps one of the of Greater East Bay she oversaw
ly promoted 210 laws that favor or more immediately successful bills Training, Employment, and Human
support seniors and their families. has been the Silver Alert program Resources. She began working with
It is an organization of 120 senior that uses the existing Amber alert seniors as the Executive Director of
(age 60+) volunteers represent- network to notify the public and Solano County IHSS Public Au-
ing every part of the state. While first responders when a senior with thority. Lauren also volunteers as
CSL is a State created organiza- dementia or dementia like disease California’s Chair/Past Chair in the
tion, it receives no funding from is missing. In its first year of California Senior Legislature and
the State. All efforts are support- operation the program returned 149 Vice Chair of the Solano County
ed through donations, primarily seniors to their families. This year’s Senior Coalition and Chair of its
through a tax exempt contribution SB128 or End of Life Options bill Elder Abuse Committee. Lauren
on the California State Income tax is a CSL sponsored effort. lives with her husband of 49 1/2
form-line 427. years.
CSL amplifies the voice of seniors
Successful CSL sponsored within our state Legislature. For current legislature priorities
bills focus on protection of Seniors make up nearly 16% of please visit our website:
elders. Examples are AB40 by California’s population, but those www.4csl.org.
Asm. Yamada requires mandat- who take care for and about seniors
ed reporters of elder abuse to comprise a much larger segment of
report evidence of physical injury our population. CSL also updates
within 2 hours of identifying it supporters on key legislation “We
to both APS and to law enforce- want to give our supporters timely
ment. Another example is SB 1018 updates on when their voices can
and SB 33 which make financial make a difference.” states John
institutions mandated reporters Poiner, current Chair expensive,
of financial exploitation or abuse. more compassionate and more
AB 1525 requires elder financial effective ways” to deal with issues
abuse training for employees of in California. CSL is all about
money transmitters in an effort finding such methods to deal with
to eliminate Scam operations that the rising senior issues in our great
target seniors. Additional bills state.

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

28 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM
SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 29

DRESSING UP

SILICON

VALLEY

Interview with Peter Pau
founder of Sand Hill
Property Company

I f you love great architec-

ture, you probably cannot wait
for the new Apple Campus 2
by Foster + Partners, or the
Heatherwick Studio’s (London)
new Googleplex, or the Nvidia’s
new Polygon Structure by
Gensler(U.S.A), to materialize
and shake the mundane architec-
tural landscape of the Silicon
Valley. There have never been so
many internationally well known
architects working in our area
before with incredibly creative,
beautiful, and mind-blowing plans.

No one would have dared to think
of these concepts ten years ago.
However, we cannot help but feel a
sense of regret that these buildings
are the corporate offices of highly
prestigious tech companies.
They take up large areas in our
communities, but many of us will
have no access to them. We cannot
meet friends, hang out, or visit
because we don’t work there.

If you believe that our communi-
ties and neighborhoods also
deserve a place just as beautiful,
fanciful or cool to wander and walk
around, there is hope.

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

30 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Downtown Los Altos is going an effort to diversify it for a requirements, and each firm came
through a three-year long facelift. downtown look. Since most up with its own ideas. We select-
Stanford Shopping Center’s new downtowns are built over different ed Rafael Viñoly’s design. Vallco
large-scale renovation is underway, periods, we wanted each building is one of the most important works
and with the timely opening of to be customized. Since I prefer for me and for Rafael because there
Main Street Cupertino, we are a certain building style, to mix are so many innovative and risky
excited that we too will have a various styles means that I had aspects that challenge traditional
place to meet. At this time of great to accept some styles that I was architectural modes.
architectural opportunities, we not used to. However, the results
had the chance to interview Peter pleased me. SVI: What ultimately do you want
Pau, founder of Sand Hill Property to achieve with Vallco? Some
Company to discuss real estate For example, the large restau- people make developers appear to
development in Silicon Valley, and rants facing Stevens Creek have be greedy. What is your personal
the ‘wow-factor’ of his proposed the agricultural look to mimic fulfillment in this project?
project, The Hills at Vallco. the feeling of the wine country.
The new Target building will be Pau: I want to do something that I
SVI: You and your firm have spectacular. I purposely looked for can be proud of, and the communi-
developed quite a few exciting an architect who does not special- ty can be proud of as well. The
architectural projects in the Bay ize in retail. Without the conven- Hills is very challenging, but at the
Area. Which are your favorites, and tional retail constraints, he has end of it, I can forsee something
why? created a building that is bold and wonderful for the community- a
attractive. place where people can meet and
Pau: I like most of my buildings. enjoy visiting in Cupertino. When
BridgePointe (formerly Fashion We also built the Whole Foods this happens, I will know it will be
Island Shopping Center) has two Market in Cupertino, a 67,000 sq. a success.
sides. The front side faces the feet store. It was difficult since it
parking lot and the back faces the needed to be built sideways but still As I have come to the final stage of
freeway. Typically most architects have the storefront visible from my career, I want to do something
do not design the back of a Stevens Creek Boulevard. We also different. When I was younger, I
shopping center, and nobody tries built the Whole Foods store on El had more financial constraints. I
to make that look interesting. For Camino Real in Los Altos. When had to pay the bank loans. I had to
this project we paid attention to all Whole Foods approached us, I told pay the construction company. I
sides and it came out beautifully. them that the site was too small - had to make sure that the proper-
there wouldn’t be enough parking. ty was occupied. Now, I don’t mind
The Tree Farm in Los Altos, taking risks. I don’t have to be safe
which is currently occupied by Whole Foods came back to say and conservative. I can simply
LinkedIn, is a large structure, but that the parking could be in the build the best. I really want to offer
the architecture is articulated with basement. This is the first time I something for the community to
intricate details so people don’t feel realized that a grocery store could love and to cherish for many years
overpowered. have underground parking. Whole to come. I am a Christian and I am
Foods has been wonderful to deeply involved in my faith. I was
Our new design for1050 Page Mill work with. They are very creative taught to care about the communi-
Road in Palo Alto won an interna- people. They try to have individu- ty. So how the community can
tional award even before it was al styles and characteristics in each benefit from what I do is the most
submitted to the Palo Alto Planning of their stores. This has been very important aspect of my pursuit. At
Commission. Many people who costly but the results have been the end of the day, I want peace
have seen the plans have given us great. of mind when I ask myself “Did
good reviews and they appreciate you do the right thing for other
the fact that we broke away from The Hills at Vallco project was people?”
the traditional Stanford Research designed by one of the world’s
Park architectural scheme. best architects. We sponsored an Vallco will be an expensive project.
international design competition. If I were greedy and only wanted
Main Street Cupertino was a
challenging project. We made We didn’t specify the design Continued on page 32 ...

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 31

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32 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Continued from page 30 ... Street Cupertino in 2007. The year
before, there was a major referen-
dum which defeated the housing
development proposed by the
previous developer due to concerns
over schools. The Cupertino City
Council and staff suggested us to
do senior housing instead, as there
would be no impact on the school
district.

The new Netflix building in Los Gatos by Sand Hill Property Co. with joint-venture partner We proposed four different
the Carlyle Group segments for the Main Street
project: senior housing, hotel,
to make money, it would be much tenants who can do well for a long retail, and offices. Then the 2008
easier for me to build office time. recession happened and everything
buildings and apartments in many stopped. When the economy began
cities rather than doing something The City of Cupertino hired outside to recover, Cupertino City staff
difficult like revitalizing Vallco. consultants. The outcome of their asked us to get started again. Since
study matched our conclusion, so there were four different segments,
Rafael showed me correspondence we agreed to reduce the number each segment was to be financed
from people in different parts of of retail spaces while making sure by a different bank. Since I had
the world about The Hills at Vallco new businesses wouldn’t fail. never done senior housing before,
project. He said this is the most the banks I worked with would not
important project he has ever done. SVI: Who are good retail tenants? finance the senior housing segment,
His firm has received internation- What retailers do you have in mind meaning we had to sell off the
al recognition and expressions of for The Hills at Vallco? senior housing to another developer
good will for his design. With so for it to be financed.
much support, the effort will be Pau: We are looking in Europe
worthwhile. and Asia, as well as other parts The City Council and staff were
of the world to bring good retail concerned that coordinating differ-
SVI: Many people want to keep companies to Vallco in order to ent pieces of the project with
Vallco as just a shopping center. create more interesting shopping, different developers would be
What do you think about that? dining and entertainment experi- too difficult. They wanted to see
ences. We hope to find something us finishing the project in one
Pau: It’s not that we don’t want completely different from the usual complete piece. So together, we
retail, since we are retail develop- chain stores, I hope Vallco will not came up with the idea to change
ers. If we think that retail works, have all the same stores as many the senior housing to regular
I would love to have more retail other shopping malls. apartments so we could get it
spaces. Retail rents can be higher financed and built along with the
than office rents. However, too SVI: People have accused you rest of the project. In the meantime,
much retail will not work. With of cutting out senior housing on we were requested by the City
the high turnover and competi- Main Street Cupertino and that Council and staff to build more
tion in the retail industry, we need the elements were changed in office spaces. However, we did
to have the right size and the right secret. Can you address these not change the retail and the hotel
stores. The Hills at Vallco will have accusations? components.
625,000 square feet of retail space,
the appropriate critical mass. We Pau: There has been a lot of What is unfair is that some people
want to attract good retail tenants, misinformation. We started Main have said that we changed things
secretly. How could we do things
in secret? Every major plan change
has to be reviewed by City staff,
the design committee, and differ-
ent public agencies, as well as

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 33

outside design consultants, the office spaces at the end of 2015 SVI: Our interview with Peter
City Council and the Planning and the beginning of 2016. The Pau has concluded, but there is
Commission. We always have to go hotel will open at the end of 2016. no conclusion on The Hills at
through public hearings and all the The apartments will be done in Vallco. Think of what the plan has
results are made public. 2017. The City staff would like to to offer: beautiful architecture and
have a grand opening ceremony for landscaping. The world’s largest
We started Main Street Cupertino Main Street, but I am not sure if it sky park. An orchard, a vineyard,
before the recession and it took us is possible since different parts of 3.8 miles of trails, a new K-5
eight years to finish. During this Main Street will open at different Elementary school, and an innova-
time, we had thirty to fourty public times. tion center for our high school
hearings in order to show project students, as well as interesting
elements and to get approvals on SVI: After almost fourty years of retail and excellent restaurants.
our designs. Some changes were developing real estate in Silicon
made by us. Some changes were Valley, what is important for you We will have no need to fight traffic
initiated by City Hall. For anyone now? and struggle with parking to get
to claim that we could make to Santana Row. With the Apple 2
changes behind closed doors is just Pau: I would like to spend the last Campus, Main Street Cupertino,
using their imagination. few years of my career building and then The Hills at Vallco, our
good community relationships, and city will be dotted with award
SVI: When will the grand opening doing a few more great projects. I winning architecture, internation-
for Main Street? want to show people that real estate al cuisine and chic and hip stores.
developers are not all evil. I am Cupertino will finally have some
Pau: Main Street will open in Chinese first, a Christian next, and culture and night life. However, we
stages, starting with Target in then a developer. It is important for have to work together to make it
October, 2016. Most stores will me to do things right and be a good happen.
open between Spring and Summer example.
2016. Apple will move into the

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

34 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

The Silicon Valley Studio:
Gregory Burns and Angie Tan-Burns

Depart: Gregory Angie-Tan Burns Joint work

I nternational and Bay Area artist Cupertino. I attended Foothill and kets to smell and observe all the

Gregory Burns has local roots. His De Anza Colleges, where I started exotic foods and spices. Eventually,
wife, photographer Angie Tan-
Burns, (featured photographer for, my Paralympic swimming career, in 1984, I joined a one-year San
“The Burning Man”, Silicon Valley
Impressions Summer 2015) on the and honed my skills as a contempo- Jose State International Program to
other hand, has her roots in Asia.
Together they have established rary artist. study Chinese painting, calligraphy
roots in Cupertino and Singapore.
Little did I know that far away, and art history in Taiwan. This was
Despite contracting polio as a in the Malaysian State of Sabah, a the beginning of my Asian journey
child, and ambulating with braces tiny girl named Hsiao Hsing would that has lasted over 30 years.
and crutches, Gregory has com-
peted in four Iron Man events, and be born nine weeks prematurely to In Taipei I studied under famous
set five world records in swimming
during three Paralympics. With parents of Chinese ancestry. Per- local masters and began to under-
Angie’s support, Gregory shares his
experiences and inspirations with haps because the doctors thought stand the importance of developing
many people through his motiva-
tional speeches and encourages she might not survive, she fought one’s character as well as one’s
others to go beyond self-imposed
limitations to live creative lives. to prove them wrong and came into artistic ability. How both would
In this issue, we are delighted to
share their story with you as told the world with the tenacity of a be visible through one’s brush
by Gregory.
tiger. strokes fascinated me. Wielding a
Since my father was born in Oak-
land, it was only natural that fol- Her father, an artist and educator, bold brush with intention based on
lowing his successful career in the would one day be a founding mem- the rules of Chinese calligraphy,
U.S. State Department, he settled ber of the Singapore Modern Art expanded the boundaries of my
our family in the Bay Area after Society. A year after Hsiao Hsing’s Western art aesthetic. Riding my
having living overseas in Lebanon, birth, the family would board a motorcycle through Taipei’s crowd-
Palestine, France, Germany, Hol- Chinese junk and make the treach- ed streets lined with elaborately
land and New Zealand. We initially erous, long crossing to the newly written store signs deepened my
resided in Mountain View before independent country of Singapore appreciation for the written word
moving to Los Altos and eventually where the family settled. Her even though I could not understand
mother would raise three strong most of it.

children as the new country also In Singapore, Hsiao Hsing would

took its first steps as a nation. grow up spending far more time

My fascination with Asia began away from home than under the
with the Encyclopedia Britan- watchful eyes of her parents. She
nica, which had pictures of ancient loved adventuring around the still
Chinese courts with elaborately virgin Singapore countryside. She
costumed emperors and vassals. On excelled in arts and sports, studied
Castro Street in downtown Moun- graphics arts and took up wind-
tain View, I visited Chinese mar- surfing. Since she was hanging

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 35

participants during these interactive
sessions.

I recently spoke to the 6th through
8th graders at the Bullis Charter
School in Los Altos. Along with
stories about how my parents
worked tirelessly to raise me as an
empowered and independent child,
I also tried to stress the fact that
failure in life has its place and that
though we must strive to do our
very best, falling down is how we
learn to stand up and carry on.

Gregory Burns and Angie-Tan Burns corporate world and began dual Both Angie and I draw inspira-
careers as a contemporary painter tion from nature. Last year, along
out with many Westerners at her and motivational speaker. We never with another friend with a physical
windsurfing club, she changed her looked back. Together we have challenge due to a bicycle accident
name to Angie. climbed mountains (the Grand he’d suffered three years earlier,
Canyon amongst others), scuba we set out to trek 35 kilometers
Following my studies, I embarked dived with mighty manta rays in across four peaks in the mountains
on what was supposed to be a the Maldives, backpacked across of Ladakh, India. Along the way,
summer backpacking trip through Europe for months at a stretch and besides scrapping our way up and
China. After trekking across the generally live a big, fulfilling life down narrow rocky, scree-sub-
Middle Kingdom for two months, together in Singapore and Cuper- merged trails, I managed to create
as well as spending two weeks in tino. four large paintings that symbol-
Tibet painting in the mountains ized our endeavor. They are: Set
and monasteries, I took a five-day One of our first and most memo- your Intention, Find a Tribe, Climb
bumpy bus ride to Nepal. Once rable experiences together was the Mountains, and Carry On and Keep
there, after more painting and trek- 1996 Atlanta Paralympics where Walking.
king, summer was over and it was I competed for the USA Team in
either time to go home or carry on. swimming. Prior to the Games, “I can see no other reason
Angie perfected her culinary skills for the existence of art and
As India was only another 24- and fueled me for all the training poetry and religion except as
hour bus ride away, I carried on, required which enabled me to set they tend to restore in us a
spending the next year backpack- world records in the 100 Meter freshness of vision and more
ing throughout the sub-continent, Backstroke and two USA Team Re- emotional glamour and a
across Pakistan and then over the lays. It was such an exciting feel- more vital sense of life.” -
Karakorum Mountains and back ing for me knowing that inside the Lin Yutang.
into Western China before making loudly cheering crowd of 17,000
my way to Taiwan. I’d been travel- fans was my family and life part- We congratulate Angie and Greg-
ing for sixteen months, focusing ner. It ended with many medals and ory for their life together with time
my attention on painting the reli- memories that we still share. for nature, time for imagination,
gious and sacred sites I’d found time for creativity, and time for
along the journey. For two decades I have traveled sharing. We look forward following
the world sharing experiences and their adventures and discoveries.
After living in Taiwan and later motivational messages with multi-
Hong Kong for a decade, I found national corporations and various Please visit their websites:
myself working for a multi-national schools. I have been equally in-
company in Singapore. A month spired by many of the thoughtful www.gregoryburns.com,
later, I met Angie, the “angel” questions I have been asked by w ww.gregoryburnsinspire.com and
who I have shared my life and www.angarts.com.
adventures with ever since. Two
years into our relationship I left the

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

36 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

IJ M NINSTRUMENT DONATION EVENT BRINGS THE

GIFT OF MUSIC TO EAST PALO ALTO SCHOOLS

T here will be more “music in the IvyMax Foundation: Liang Peng, Helena wang, Cupertino Rotarian Don Sun, East Palo
Alto Rotary President Elizabeth Jackson, Live in Peace Director of Arts and Music Justine
air” in East Palo Alto thanks to the Phipps, East Palo Alto Rotarian Ivan Temes, Cupertino Rotarian Jerra Rowland, Melonie
collaboration of several communi- Brophy, Wendell Stephens, Hung Wei, Orrin Mahoney, and Savita Vaidhyanathan
ty organizations. On Sunday
December 20, 2015, Ivymax
Foundation in Cupertino, The
Cupertino Rotary Club, The East
Palo Alto Rotary Club, and Silicon
Valley Impressions Magazine held
a Share the Love of Music event at
Cupertino Community Hall. They
gathered to celebrate the collection
of 60 used instruments for East
Palo Alto school children and the
Live in Peace organization.

The event was launched by The Members of the Cupertino and East Palo Alto Rotary, IvyMax Foundation students, and
Cupertino Rotary Club Youth city officials of Cupertino and East Palo Alto
Service Committee leaders Don
Sun and Melonie Brophy, and IvyMax Foundation Cupertino High School District Trustee, Hung
District Governor Elect #5170 student clubs IMPCS and Wei, Cupertino Rotary President
Orrin Mahoney, along with East Nanoseed each donated $500. The Wendell Stevenson were also
Palo Alto Rotary Club President $5,000 donation made by IvyMax present. One speaker lauded Share
Elizabeth Jackson, and Rotarian student Si Chen will be distribut- the Love of Music as “meaningful,
Ivan Temes. The majority of the ed equally to each East Palo Alto kind, and community building.”
instruments were collected by the school. The remaining $2500 will
IvyMax Foundation student club. be used for various music programs The Share the Love of Music event
in that community. was covered by NBC BayArea
IvyMax Foundation and both News, the Palo Alto Weekly,
Rotary Clubs also collected $7500 Cupertino Mayor Barry Chang, the San Jose Mercury News, the
in cash donations to be given to Vice Mayor Savita Vaidhyanathan, Cupertino Courier, the World
East Palo Alto schools to pay for East Palo Alto Mayor Donna Journal and Tsing-Dao Daily.
art supplies and music instru- Rutherford and former Mayor Lisa
ment repairs. Of the $7500 total Gauthier attended. Fremont Union
donation, $5000 was donated by
IvyMax student and founder of
Mission of Arts, Ms. Si Chen. $500
was donated by Pastor Xiong Ruan
of Home of Christ 5 in Cupertino,
and $1,000 by the East Palo Alto
Rotary Club.

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM 37

LESS IS MORE,
THE
TINY
HOUSE

MOVEMENT

Marc Kulla    

W ith the housing prices in the Courtesy of thetinylife.com

bay area literally going through
the roof, most people cannot
afford to buy or rent a home near
their work or where they desire.
There is a new movement that is
taking shape and is going to be a
saving grace for many of us and
for our future generations. It is a
social movement of people who
are choosing to live in smaller
homes to reduce environmental and
financial impact, and in return have
an increase in freedom and time.

The average Tiny House is between living room area, kitchen area and available. If you are more futuris-
100 and 400 square feet, whereas bathroom. Is it really possible to tic, it is also available.
the average home in the U.S. is live in such a small space? It is,
just less than 2600 feet. Giving and the choices that we have now The number of architectural plans
up space in our home is not as are incredible! The variety of Tiny as well as complete Tiny House
daunting as it may sound. Just walk Houses is growing with new home manufacturers is a moving target as
into IKEA and see how they have styles available almost monthly. more and more companies enter the
setup a “home” in about 175 square If you like a Victorian style home, market. Wheelhaus, a well-known
feet that includes a bedroom area, there’s one available. If you manufacturer based in Wilson, WY
prefer the rustic look, there’s one has many models to choose from.

SILICON VALLEY IMPRESSIONS | January 2016

38 SILICONVALLEYIMPRESSIONS.COM

Courtesy of EcoCapsule: Tiny house in a capsule

Courtesy of Wheelhaus, tiny house exterior Courtesy of
Wheelhaus, tiny

house interior

The original Wheelhaus model, collection techniques. One futuris-
The Wedge, is an elegant display of tic design that is getting quite a
how 400 square feet can be used. bit of press is based in the Slovak
Each house consists of a bedroom, Republic. The Ecocapsule is billed
bathroom, kitchen/living room, as as the “New way of sustainable
well as a private deck. The exterior living.”
of the home is covered in a rustic
ranchwood siding. From the exterior you may wonder truly need and generally carries
who would ever live in such an debt along with it? A quick Google
The interior is elegant and modern. egg-shaped home? Many of our search on Tiny Houses results
It could be found in any high-end young workers in Silicon Valley in 22 million results including a
condominium in a major city. Can’t might enjoy living in this type of TV series based on this growing
decide on the American made or home rather than renting a room phenomenon (Tiny House Nation).
imported Italian tile? It’s much in a family home or living with 3 This is not a fad that will falter.
easier when you only need a dozen other roommates in a small, outdat- This is the future of our society and
or so of the tiles, not boxes and ed apartment. The Ecocapsule beats one that the Silicon Valley needs
boxes that we would need for a living in RV’s and trucks to cut to clear hurdles to incorporate into
typical home remodel. down on costs or more commonly our landscape. We must be forward
renting an apartment making long thinking in ways that can incorpo-
If a rustic exterior is not your style, commutes to the office. rate a new, young workforce into
there is a huge range of options our community.
between that style and futuris- Tiny houses are not for everyone.
tic. Going futuristic also implies However, the growing interest Marc Kulla holds undergraduate
that you will be self-sustainable in these homes should be a wake and graduate degrees in Computer
for some of your natural resources. up call for our younger genera- Science as well as a graduate
Electricity can be based on wind tion. Would we rather live in the degree in Education. He is a
and solar power and heating and area we prefer in a smaller house, software engineer, entrepreneur,
cooling can be built into the design or would we prefer to live hours parent, and is currently a middle
of the home. Water can be supple- away from our work just so we can school teacher. He works and lives
mented with built-in rainwater afford a home that is more than we in the Bay Area.

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