Justice
Why a Brand-New $10 Million Library Has Been Sitting Empty for Months
One unfortunate outcome of California doing away with redevelopment agencies.
The sleek $10 million building pictured above is Northside Library, located in the San Francisco-area city Santa Clara. As you can see in the photos below, it's 99 percent complete - so why has it been sitting empty since last July?
The explanation begins two years ago, when California Governor Jerry Brown shuttered the state's redevelopment agencies in the face of a massive budget deficit. These RDAs, which used local tax increment financing to fund neighborhood improvements like affordable housing and parks, had been criticized for lacking oversight.