As top-down state policy degrades student achievement in SJUSD, the argument against public schools could be gaining purchase. But Gus Mattammal, author of A is for Average, makes the case for reforming, not discarding, public education. While distributed opportunity to children everywhere is key to our economic health, he asks if California’s $130 billion-per-year system is actually delivering results.
An end-of-year addition to the vaunted Opp Now team, local grad student Cristabel Cruz offers our first in a series on What To Expect in The Coming Year. Welcome, Cristabel, and welcome, 2026.
Even though homelessness continues to rise in SJ, Mayor Mahan and city officials point to an increase in the number of shelter beds as a sign of success. But is it? SF's Mayor Lurie says it's time to go beyond simply counting beds. Rather, he says, cities should be using a data-driven approach to match shelter types to individual needs—shifting from capacity to compatibility. Invisible People explains.
As San Jose City Council moves forward with consideration of more rent control and new onerous regulations for housing providers, Joseph Weinstein (former housing provider) puts non profits' and advocates' claims that "housing is a right" into a new light.
Seattle’s mayor wants to cut subjective design reviews and greenlight code-compliant housing without endless back-and-forth. As the City of Seattle reports, this trims months off construction starts. San Jose, Mountain View, and Palo Alto could follow suit: SB 330 already lets cities exempt qualifying multifamily projects from Architectural Review Board purgatory.
Multiple CA cities (Bakersfield, Redondo Beach, etc.) have solved their homelessness crises. Not so in San Jose and Santa Clara County, as the homelessness crisis continues to trend upwards. Signal Hill is the first city in LA County to achieve a “functional zero homelessness,” and their leaders hope others will follow their model, as explained in the Signal Tribune.
Sometimes good ideas last forever. And Boxing Day is a good day to appreciate them. Local historian April Halberstat gives us an affectionate review of our epic, historic local rail line--now called Caltrain. An Opp Now exclusive.
It's not North Beach, but SJ has its own legacy of Beat Literature from the 1950s. And perhaps none is more stirring than this dreamy, little-remarked passage from Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, in which the narrator hitches a (literal and spiritual) ride on a southbound Xmas Eve train, beginning his SJ-to-LA journey from the sidings of the old Southern Pacific station downtown.
Overflowing sunshine. Flowers, green grasses, and fruits of every kind. Early California poet (and namesake of the Oakland park) Joaquin Miller (1837–1913) revels in the wonders of “A California Christmas,” below. We echo his gratitude for this special place and the folks in it—and, from the Opp Now team, heartily wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and New Year. :-)