{"id":22165,"date":"2024-03-06T11:36:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T18:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=22165"},"modified":"2024-03-06T14:09:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T21:09:20","slug":"san-jose-in-microsoft-land-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/san-jose-in-microsoft-land-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless San Jose residents in Microsoft Land worry about \u201csweep\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen to this note:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Homeless
Homeless residents of San Jose are worried about Microsoft Land, with about 40 people living in their cars in an encampment off Highway 237, where Microsoft plans to build two data centers. Photo: Brandon Pho. San Jose Spotlight<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Brandon Pho. San Jose Spotlight<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 40 homeless people are holed up on a small plot of land adjacent to San Jose's busy Highway 237 in Microsoft Land.<\/span><\/p>\n

The camp is around the same spot where Microsoft plans to build two data centers in San Jose, near the Milpitas border. Unhoused residents said a Caltrans worker warned them of an impending raid. Officials at Caltrans, Santa Clara County and San Jose deny such a plan. However, someone has tipped off the camp, and its residents are on edge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to move in 60 days, 90 days, that\u2019s fine, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll work with. But we want to be prepared,\u201d Ricky Robles, a 60-year-old homeless resident who has lived in the encampment for two years, told San Jose Spotlight<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have vehicles and we would need to get them out of here. We will have to tow our cars if they don\u2019t start. Or we risk getting fined or having our stuff taken away. And then, we have to figure out where to go,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft purchased the 65-acre site in 2017 for $73 million to build the data centers. San Jose officials have yet to issue permits for the project, which is still under review by San Jose's planning division and other departments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft declined to comment on the camp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Advocates and local officials differ on when the encampment appeared, but place its origin sometime between 2021 and 2022. They agree that the encampment exploded after Milpitas city officials, in a high-profile crackdown on homelessness, pushed homeless residents out of the city and onto Highway 237.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThings got worse when Milpitas cracked down,\u201d Councilmember David Cohen, whose District 4 encompasses the Highway 237 encampment, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe can\u2019t control what other cities do within their borders, but I hope we all work together to be thoughtful and solve the problem rather than taking quick action that makes it harder for neighbors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Robles said she has lived at the camp for two years due to legal battles with her brother. She tried living in several motels and county shelter programs, but had bad experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robles said he spoke to a man who appeared to work for Caltrans a few weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m supposed to do this, but you guys need to know that you\u2019re going to get out of here,\u2019\u201d Robles told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caltrans spokesman Victor Gauthier said the agency has no authority over the property and no plans to conduct a raid. He referred all questions to San Jose officials. Councilman Cohen said no raid is planned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohen said the encampment issue underscores his push for safe parking programs in the city. A safe parking site has opened in South San Jose where homeless people can sleep in their RVs and access services. But the program has numerous restrictions that caused the Santa Teresa VTA light rail station location to be virtually empty when it opened. It is nearly full as of Feb. 26.<\/span><\/p>\n

A second site at 100 Berryessa Road is scheduled to open this summer. The project has been hit by numerous delays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yolie Garcia, an organizer with the Milpitas advocacy group Hope for the Unhoused, said moving residents to the safe parking spot will take time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe vehicles would need to be operational and have current insurance and registration,\u201d Garcia told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI hope to have all that information in the next two weeks for every car in the camp.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said camp residents are in survival mode every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a safe place to live, even for a short time, is everything to them, but they know it can end in a minute and that causes them stress and PTSD,\u201d Garcia said.<\/span><\/p>\n

See the original note by clicking here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> Delay in residency permit processes threatens the US economy<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Escucha esta nota:   Por Brandon Pho. San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. Unas 40 personas sin hogar est\u00e1n escondidas en una peque\u00f1a parcela de terreno adyacente a la transitada autopista 237 de San Jos\u00e9 en Microsoft Land. El campamento se encuentra alrededor del mismo lugar donde Microsoft planea construir dos centros de datos en San Jos\u00e9, cerca […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-cover"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22180,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22165\/revisions\/22180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}