Millbrae - Be Nice to Our Neighbor

Some of our bloggers managed to take a post I thought was innocuous quite far off the rails.  The Welcome to B'game post was supposed to be a feel good piece talking about how the Peninsula and B'game have seen an influx of new people from EssEff.  This is nothing new.  My wife's parents made the move in the '50s and the movement has been constant since.  Things may be escalating as conditions degrade in EssEff.

I didn't expect the post to turn into a Millbrae bash since Millbrae isn't exactly chopped liver in real estate terms.  I do poke at them for their foggy weather ("Milldew") but that's the weather!!  Not much anyone can do about it.  All of this did get me thinking about some actual facts so I took a look at the financial condition of the two neighbors.  The Daily Journal had a piece focussed on B'game a week ago that you can find here.  I prefer to go to the original sources which in this case are the CAFR reports on the cities' websites.  First, a population comparison.  Millbrae had 22,078 residents in 2012 and the B'game figure for 2013 was estimated at 29,892.  So B'game is about 35% bigger.

But the budget situations are radically different on a population normalized basis.  Millbrae's revenue for Fiscal 2013 which ended about a year ago was $42.9 million.  B'game is on the same fiscal year and had revenue of $92 million.  Ouch.  35% more people but 215% more revenue.  That is still no reason to bash Millbrae since I bet there are more cities like them than like us and there are plenty in California worse than both.  I think there are some historical reasons for the difference based on when we were founded and how businesses grew up in B'game (auto row and hotel row).  Just something to think about and appreciate about our little burg.  Now let's try not to screw it up, OK?

Comments

[Bruce Dickinson]

Maybe Bruce Dickinson needs a new prescription of reading glasses, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that I really didn't see what I would consider Millbrae "bashing" in the comments of that article.

[Anne]

When magnified it reads like this

There are a few kids that do not live in the district. Yep its true, everyone knows who they are, but we tend to let it slide, and the unspoken reason is in the cause of allowing a smidgen of diversity into the school communities on the north side of town. Its still not very diverse, heck we're almost looking like Pacifica or Millbrae these days.

and Fred picked up on it immediately since Millbrae is easier to pick on than San Mateo.

[fred]

My comment was a jest in response to the bashing a 45 year resident and the city of San Mateo in the comment right above mine.

[fred]

But, whatever. It's beautiful outside. Have a nice weekend!

[Bruce Dickinson]

Not to pour salt on wounds, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not about the people, be it socio-economics or ethnicity, folks. Burlingame gets its reputation and desirability because of its character and environment, which took blood, sweat and tears to preserve. It's a unique town, yes, very unique town.

Millbrae and San Mateo are great towns too with beautiful neighborhoods and vibrant diversity and some of the Burlingame elements, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that whomever is doing the planning and development for those cities are still selling their residents short, which is too bad, because those residents deserve to have everything we in Burlingame have. Yes, they are great places to live in the beautiful bay area, but still doesn't mean they can't be made better.

What if caring about planning, development, the environment (trees), and preserving history added to homeowners' values and made everyone better off while helping city coffers? Doesn't mean that there still can't be rental opportunities, like in Burlingame, which believe it or not, actually has some of the most affordable housing on the Peninsula due to some of the older multifamily housing along the El Camino Real. Bruce Dickinson believes decisions are being made in some of these other Peninsula towns that are doing their residents a disservice, with unbridled and unthoughtful development in complete and utter disregard of citizens' interests. Does building brand new seven story high rise condos (that are sold, not rented) with all of the genericism that says "San Fernando Valley" really solve all housing problems? This, my friends, is the core of the issue, notwithstanding that some of the Burlingame snobbery exhibited on this site is misplaced, in my humble opinion.

This being the Burlingame Voice, Bruce Dickinson voices his opinion that Burlingame should never allow the same things to transpire in this city that have transpired in neighboring cities, INCLUDING Hillsborough (for different reasons, obviously, in the complete disregard for rental population). This is why I choose to make my home right here, and I'm quite proud of that.

[Jennifer]

Agree completely...I am very skeptical that we we will be able to keep local control over the long haul, to determine how WE want our city to look and feel if we keep allowing these agencies and mandates to mow us over.

With rentals at 52%, Burlingame accommodates a wide range of lifestyles and living situations. We are absolutely doing our fair share and have been for decades. I'll take the plethora of human-scaled multi-unit structures we have any day over sterile blobs. What a shame to see them closing in like mushrooms on our horizon.

And guess what? Those that are rentals are certainly not cheap; the newly constructed hulk on our southern border is boasting what seem to me to be rather pricey units, sandwiched between the tracks and a busy commercial street.

This according to the Patch from a few days ago:

"The 158-unit luxury apartment community is located at 888 San Mateo Drive in San Mateo. 888 San Mateo is currently 70% leased and 60% occupied. Average rents are between $2,600 and $4,000 per month."

The worst part is, that we are actually creating CODS (Car Oriented Developments) in the name of TODS because our transportation network is practically non-existent. That means just more people in in their cars going nowhere, fast.