The Bay Area's fierce not-in-my-backyard crowd added Steph Curry to its lineup after the Golden State Warriors star declared his opposition to a housing project proposed near one of his homes in an affluent Silicon Valley suburb.
The National Basketball Association player and his wife, Ayesha Curry, emailed local officials in Atherton, California, opposing plans to allow dense multifamily developments from getting built in what is one of the priciest housing markets in the nation. The suburb is one of many across the Bay Area contending with state-mandated plans to develop more housing, and if it doesn't fulfill them, California could supersede any local decisions made in an effort to push projects through.
The couple wrote that they were relieved when the town voted down an earlier housing development slated for 23 Oakwood Blvd., several blocks away from their home on Selby Lane, and were hoping for a similar outcome this time around, according to the Almanac, a local Atherton news site, which first reported the letter.
“We hesitate to add to the ‘not in our backyard’ (literally) rhetoric,” the Currys wrote in the email to Atherton officials, adding that "safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home.”
The 23 Oakwood project, which proposed about a dozen townhouses on a single-family home site, would "be looming directly behind us," the couple wrote in the letter, acknowledging that their opposition to the development would likely cause problems with the state's housing authority. However, if California mandates that the development get pushed through, the Currys asked Atherton officials to invest in increased privacy measures in the area around their home.
“We kindly ask that the town adopts the new housing element without the inclusion of 23 Oakwood, ” the Currys wrote, adding that "should that not be sufficient for the state, we ask that the town commits to investing in considerably taller fencing and landscaping to block sight lines onto our family’s property.”
The four-time NBA champion and his wife sold an Atherton home at 247 Polhemus Ave. for $31.2 million in an off-market deal that closed in September 2022, quietly purchasing their Selby Lane home shortly thereafter.
Known for sweeping estates that house some of the Bay Area's richest billionaires, Atherton home prices average more than $8 million, according to real estate site Redfin.