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If you live in the San Jose region of California no one needs to tell you that your housing costs are amongst the highest in the country. Demand combined with high paying jobs will turn the smallest shack into a million dollar bidding war.

So when a group of developers want to turn 532 acres of land in the San Jose Evergreen district that is zoned industrial into a 4,700 new homes and give the city 221 million for improvements it would be a no brainer.

Well think again, the city council is fighting the proposal and would keep the land fallow in hopes of more jobs. For a region that already has a significant and high paying job base and a severe shortage of housing, this should be a slam dunk. However, logical market economics when combined with small minded politicians and bureaucrats never has produced the results one expects.

Instead, what we most likely will see is the land sitting for years while people face a housing shortage. And the reason the land will remain fallow, there will not be enough people available and able to work for the rate that would support the industry that would think of relocating to that land.

A group of property owners wants to build about 4,700 homes in Evergreen, a move that would have a dramatic effect on housing, jobs and traffic in East San Jose. The proposal has sparked major community interest and is forcing the council to make one of its most important policy decisions in the past decade.
Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmen Sam Liccardo and Pierluigi Oliverio already say outright they will not support any rezoning of the land to build housing.
The central point of contention is over the best use of the land. Developers want the city to change the zoning to allow housing, while the staff and some council members argue that the land should be kept vacant for job-producing businesses. via San Jose Mercury News

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