Protect the Stanford Foothills!

November 29, 2018February 6, 2020Alice Kaufman

The rolling golden hills on both sides of Highway 280 as you drive through Palo Alto are part of Stanford University’s more than 2,000 acres of Santa Clara County open space. The Stanford Foothills could be at risk when a supermajority vote requirement to open this area up to development expires in just a few years. Tell Stanford and the Santa Clara County Supervisors you want to see the foothills protected!

Read up on what’s at stake and how we’ve protected the foothills through the years.

I support protecting the Stanford Foothills! I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the Stanford Foothills a permanent requirement.

Comments (52)

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John M Brazil
December 19, 2018

I support protecting the Stanford Foothills! I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the Stanford Foothills a permanent requirement.
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  SO Tfo
  January 2, 2019
  
  I ride horses out in Los Altos Hills, and Palo Alto hills, as well as hiking and Mt. biking. There are not many places left to escape Silicon Valley. It was amazing in South SJ growing up with all the orchards and going to school in Morgan Hill. All the tech companies in my opinion have absolutely ruined this area. The influx of so many people who are not from the area and don’t know the needs of this area. So many people can’t afford to live here. More high density, more tech, and growth and is not what this area needs. Los Altos Hills makes sense with it’s pathway system. You want a green footprint to follow take a look. It is taking more than 20 years to complete bike paths in San Jose. I would ride my bike to work in SJ, but it is not safe. Our mayor was even hit by a car yesterday. Please save the Stanford foothills.
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Dan Bloomberg
December 19, 2018

It is important to preserve the Stanford Foothills Open Space for future generations, by making permanent the supermajority requirement for development.
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nancy barnby
December 19, 2018

As our peninsula cities become more dense, it is crucial that we keep our open space undeveloped for ourselves and future generations to enjoy.
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Bill Whitmer
December 19, 2018

The Committee for Green Foothills was founded in 1959 to preserve the Stanford Foothills. Here we are 60 years later with the issue rising yet again. Please help us advocate to preserve this important open space forever
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Bill Leikam
December 19, 2018

We need to protect every square inch of open land.
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Howard Cohen
December 19, 2018

This open space should be protected in perpetuity, with no development ever allowed.
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Margaret Goodale
December 19, 2018

Having grown up on the Stanford Campus and attended college there, I spent many, many happy hours exploring and rambling the hills. Preserving them forever would be an excellent accomplishment for Green Foothills!
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  david schrom
  April 18, 2019
  
  And an excellent accomplishment for Stanford!
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Leah Quenelle
December 19, 2018

I am a lifelong resident of the Bay Area and I am in support of protecting the Stanford Foothills. I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the beautiful Stanford hills a permanent requirement.
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Carlysle A Young
December 19, 2018

The bucolic hills along 280 just won’t be the same if Stanford expands up to the 280 corridor.
PLEASE PROTECT THESE FOOTHILLS!
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norman p arslan
December 20, 2018

I support protecting the Stanford Foothills! I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the Stanford Foothills a permanent requirement.
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Dave Sloan
December 20, 2018

I’ve lived in Menlo Park for 40 years and BY FAR the the best benefit of living here is the beautiful Stanford Dish open space area. The local community is so grateful to Stanford for keeping the Dish area preserved and accessible. Such great views! I always say Stanford has been the best neighbor to everyone who lives in silicon valley. The Dish is the peninsula’s best feature, thank you for preserving it!
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Jerry Syzmanski
December 20, 2018

For decades we rode our bicycles from the Dish trail , went through the under tunnel at Ca 280 to access Arastradero Preserve-Felt Lake-Foothill Park.
Now that this time we knew would come has arrived , CGF supported banning bicycles from the radar dish trails during the initial planning process you have lost valuable future allies that would have supported preservation.
Now, all I’ll say is good luck,you’ll need it.
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RL Smith
December 20, 2018

Please, let us not become LA!!!
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Steve blair
December 20, 2018

The Stanford foothills area is well used by the local community for recreation. It’s also adjasent to Jasper Ridge preserve. It needs to be preserved as open space. The community doesn’t need or want development here.
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Brian Connor
December 21, 2018

“The World’s Most Beautiful Freeway” was named for a reason. Future generations should be able to enjoy this beautiful landscape.
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Jim Charley
December 21, 2018

I ALREADY Love the commute on 101 and 280! Let’s make it even more fun by adding a couple hundred thousand extra cars!
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K Lathan
December 21, 2018

These foothills are necessary for humans to have open space to admire and for wild animals to have as much of a natural corridor for their movement as they possibly can. Leaving it as open and undeveloped is one of the best investments that can be made for everyone.
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Karla Oliveira
December 21, 2018

We need to protect these foothills for our, and the planet’s, well-being. It’s vital we have a place to go to breathe amongst the developers dreams.
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marty j mackowski
December 21, 2018

I thought Leland Stanford left a will that leaves the hills intact- no development allowed. It would be criminal to build on that landscape.
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Beverlee Hastings
December 22, 2018

I am shocked at the amount of development going on. Certainly not the Peninsula I grew up in. When is enough enough? I feel like I’ve been run out of my own community. New people keep moving in and changing the area to suit their desires without consideration of the existing culture.
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Beth Wyman
January 16, 2019

Save the Foothills!
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Kelly
January 16, 2019

I am a lifelong resident of Palo Alto and I am in support of protecting the Stanford Foothills. I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the beautiful Stanford hills a permanent requirement.
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Andrea
January 16, 2019

I’ve lived in the Woodside/Skylonda area for the past 25 years and hike the open spaces many times a week. I lead a nature playgroup and we meet in a different park/open space each week. We are sharing our priceless natural spaces with future generations, who will grow up and continue to protect our invaluable open spaces. I support protecting the Stanford Foothills! I urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to make the supermajority vote requirement to allow any development in the Stanford Foothills a permanent requirement.
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Veronica Stork
January 16, 2019

These incredible foothills are falling to development at ever increasing speed. At this rate within twenty years there will be no more beautiful foothills for the children of tomorrow.
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Cindy Sidaris
January 16, 2019

I support saving the open space on Stanford land along 280. I also support keeping Webb Ranch as it is. We need denser development of already developed spaces for easier transportation and lower cost housing. Do not allow the “Stanford hills” to be developed!!!
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Ellen Sweeney
January 16, 2019

The population of the San Francisco Bay Area is exploding, making open space more important than ever! Please leave Stanford land beautiful and open to all.
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Virginia Smedberg
January 16, 2019

I have the good fortune to have been born into this area, since my parents moved to Palo Alto from San Francisco in the mid-1940’s, both to escape the fog (but benefit from its “air conditioning”) AND to be close to the open spaces Stanford had. I’ve lived here essentially all my life, and those open spaces are an essential part of my image of this area. They are also necessities for both humans and all the other living creatures with whom we share this tiny planet. Let’s keep them open!
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Edith
January 16, 2019

Wise people have been saving the foothills for many decades, and we are the blessed and grateful recipients of their actions. Now it is up to us to carry that wisdom forward for the generations to come.
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Greg Leonard
January 17, 2019

The open space in the foothills throughout the south bay is essential to our quality of life. Let’s protect this precious resource forever.
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Linda Drey-Nightingale
January 17, 2019

The Stanford Foothills Open Space are crucial to the ecological health of the greater Bay Area. Just as Jasper Ridge serves as a vital link for many native plants and animals in the greater ecosystem, the foothills provide the links for movement of animals between open spaces. Otherwise you deal with ecological islands which are known to be detrimental to the overall health of an area. Please keep the Stanford Foothills as open space and resist development that would disrupt the ecological flow that exits.
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Jessica Gonzalez
January 17, 2019

At what cost are we going to let developers destroy our foothills? This areas have to continue to be protected. They have to be protected for our health, less pollution, and the home of so many animals who live there. If we continue to develop in these areas, more traffic will occur, which can be harmful for humans who have respiratory health problems, and don’t forgot those who can’t afford to see a doctor. More development harms our land, animals, and our people.
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Mariquita West
January 17, 2019

The green hills thru which thousands drive between SF and San Jose represent some of the last
“ old California” ranch landscape left in our county. Many of us love seeing the simplicity of actual cows munching fresh grass as we negotiate the freeway and the complexities of the digital age. It would be a shame to lose thiis landscape when Stanford University has room to expand within its current permitted area.for building..

Please make it a petmanent rule that a supermajority vote is necessary to allow building in this area.
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karen zamel
January 17, 2019

Protecting this open space — this land and wildlife habitat — is essential to our well being. More concrete and asphalt, more crowding, more traffic, more pollution will contribute climate change, place more stress on our natural resources and eliminate the healthy life balance for people, animals and habitat in that area.
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Marilyn
March 28, 2019

At its inception, Stanford purchased vast tracts of land on the Peninsula — was fortunate to have the money to do it — has built a world class university and research center, and can contribute to the larger community in many ways. Protecting the foothills from development is a powerful way to take leadership in conservation of resources at a critical time in the earth’s changing climate. Let the hills to the west of the campus be a natural buffer in perpetuity to the high density development to the east.
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Bonnie Hale
March 28, 2019

I started my first job at Stanford in 1983. The University has constructed new buildings and expanded its campus continuously since then, including paving paths up to the Dish. I don’t see quail anymore, but I do see coyotes in my neighborhood, and there have been sightings of mountain lions: all due to habitat destruction and development. We must preserve and protect the Stanford foothills: home to so many biological diverse species. This precious resource cannot be replaced.
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Martin Delson
March 28, 2019

As the South Bay and Peninsula become even denser, it becomes even more important to preserve open space free of development – it’s essential for the wildlife, it’s important for the environment, and it’s good for the soul.
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pat
March 29, 2019

I have jogged and walked this area since 1965. it is worth saving as an open space. we are losing so much to development that whatever we at the grass roots can do to stop it we must do together. pat w
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Gerald Kuszak
April 21, 2019

Where do the children play?
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robin
April 24, 2019

We will not thrive if the overarching strategy is to develop what limited open space we have left into anything other than open space, with balanced and intelligently managed public access to trails and interpretive centers. We are stewards of an irreplaceable resource.
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Brian Carr
May 28, 2019

I trust the Board of Supervisors will represent the clear desire of the people of the county and preserve this beautiful open space. Aren’t they supposed to be representative of the county’s citizens?
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Mark Grzan
May 28, 2019

It is really hard to say how much open space is sufficient for future generations, but that is exactly our responsibility. Those future generations are our children and grandchildren and they need our protection. That is the responsibility we pass on to each generation, to take care of those who come after. We do have a greater responsibility because we are the first generation to understand that growth has limits. We can see those limits in today’s traffic, congestion, air, water and other diminishing natural resources. If we are to error, let us error on the side of caution and preserve all that we need for all who will need it. — Mark Grzan, Former Councilmember, Vice Mayor, Morgan Hill, CA
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Steve Quon
May 28, 2019

I just finished touring the FILOLI Historic House and Garden a few days ago during the Memorial Day weekend. I drove on 280 through the Stanford foothills to reach FILOLI and thought how beautiful this area of the country is. Lurline Roth had the foresight to preserve her family estate (FILOLI) for the public by donating it (654 acres – much of it open space) to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. I wish Stanford would see the need to preserve the Stanford foothills for open space as Lurline Roth did.
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Saundra Holloway
May 28, 2019

We must begin to save our pristine open spaces to ensure their enjoyment by our children and their children!
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Cheryl & Don Weiden
May 28, 2019

We love these hills and oaks!! Please keep them natural!!
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Chip Goldstein
May 29, 2019

As a former Stanford administrator, I recognize the University’s need to expand and modernize, but its footprint needs to simultaneously protect the open space that affords so many benefits to both the University stakeholders and to the surrounding communities.
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Alexis Dineen
October 22, 2019

Please permanently protect our foothills. I have hiked, run and biked these hills my entire life, having grown up in Palo Alto and having raised my family in nearby Portola Valley. These green spaces are crucial to our quality of life in this area. They are what continue to make living here special, in an otherwise now crowded and chaotic area.
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carol kelly
October 22, 2019

We need to think about future generations in so many ways. Keeping large swaths of natural California hills and valleys is one thing we really can do. We have been doing it and we are proud of the results. We need to continue to fight.
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dee clark
October 23, 2019

I was born and raised in the bay area. Having the foothills as a natural resource for the growing population is essentia. If the developers really feel strongly about building, let’s wait a hundred years to be certain.
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Suzanne Simms
October 23, 2019

Please retain the natural beauty of the hillsides and continue to provide the open space for biodiversity.
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Justine Saffir
October 24, 2019

Please, officials representing us, protect the quality of life and quality of environment that so affects our quality of life as your priority. We don’t need to encourage more population density, and we don’t need to reduce real space. It’s not responsible to future generations, it’s not responsible to other life forms we share this environment with, and it’s not responsible to those of us already feeling more stress than ever as our undeveloped land is swallowed up by creeping sprawl.

SO Tfo

david schrom

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