North Sunnyvale Is Still Asking: WTF, WHERE’S THE FOOD?

Dear North Sunnyvale Neighbors and Supporters,

When we first began organizing against the looming threat of a food desert in North Sunnyvale, few of us imagined how much time we would spend learning about city planning, state law, and land use, all to protect something as basic as having a grocery store close to home.

There is something deeply troubling about that, especially in a city with so much to celebrate.

Sunnyvale has beautiful parks, a thriving economy, new developments, and ribbon cuttings marking its growth and prosperity.

But not every resident experiences the same Sunnyvale.

While our city celebrates progress, North Sunnyvale faces the loss of neighborhood retail, including minority-owned businesses woven into our community’s fabric, and growing uncertainty about access to fresh, affordable groceries.

In the heart of Silicon Valley, a neighborhood should not have to fight this hard for the essentials of everyday life.

A city’s progress should be measured not only by what it builds, but by whether the people who call it home can share in that progress.

For a community that has faced longstanding inequities, that distinction matters. We understand that meaningful change takes time. But we have been overlooked for too long to accept tied hands and continued uncertainty.

When we raised our concerns, we were met with reminders of state law, litigation risks, and the limits of what could be done. We understood the challenges. What we could not accept was the idea that those challenges should define the limits of our community’s future.

We refused to accept that our part of Sunnyvale could simply be written off as an acceptable loss.

So we got to work.

We knocked on doors, listened to neighbors, gathered thousands of petition signatures, helped rebuild the San Miguel Neighborhood Association, built partnerships, and brought our concerns to City Hall.

And when the answers at City Hall seemed insufficient, we took our advocacy to the state level, working with Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens to help draft AB 1674, the Food Affordability Act. Although the bill did not become law, our neighborhood’s concerns became part of a broader statewide effort to address food access.

Not every neighborhood begins with the same resources, opportunities, or access to decision-makers. That makes what our neighbors have built together all the more meaningful.

We should be proud of how far we’ve come. But community advocacy should complement effective representation, not have to substitute for it.

North Sunnyvale deserves the same thoughtful planning, investment, and essential services that contribute to the quality of life enjoyed throughout our city. We deserve more than explanations of what cannot be done. We deserve a genuine commitment to finding what can be done.

And we deserve the same health and safety protections afforded to other village centers.

To everyone who signed our petition, attended a meeting, shared a story, knocked on a door, or helped carry this effort forward, thank you. You have helped build something far greater than a petition. You have helped strengthen a community determined to have a voice in its own future.

But our work is far from finished.

We have built a stronger, more connected community, and we intend to keep using that collective voice until North Sunnyvale sees meaningful progress. Recognition of our concerns is not the same as resolving them, and we cannot afford to confuse the two.

Petition signatures, meetings, and proposed legislation are important milestones. None of them can replace the grocery stores, neighborhood businesses, and essential services our residents need.

The true measure of our success will not be how many doors we knocked on or how many officials heard our concerns. It will be whether the daily lives of North Sunnyvale residents actually improve.

Because a neighborhood should not have to prove its worth to deserve the basics.

And after everything our community has done, the question remains the same.

WTF, WHERE’S THE FOOD?

With gratitude and determination,

North Sunnyvale Community