Business Leaders Want Leadership and Infrastructure For Sake of Downtown's Future

After complaining about the process that Los Altos has been going through to rebuild and reimagine downtown, a group of Los Altos business leaders said  Monday that they want two basic things when it comes to planning the future of the triangle-shaped business district: leadership and infrastructure.

Kim Cranston, a long-time downtown landowner whose family has deep roots in the area, suggested that the city is suffering from a dysfunctional system, leading to problems in creating a revitalized village. At the Business Roundtable event he led about 25 business people through a brainstorming session of what they would like downtown to look like in five years.

“Most of my life has been as an activist, and I concluded a long time ago that most of the problems we have are really symptoms of dysfunctional systems, and to some extent we said that here because everybody said it’s the system, and the infrastructure is what comes out, but the system if its’ not working, we get problems,” he said.

The group concluded that most of them wanted what they called “civil leadership,” which they defined as a collaborative and inclusive process between government and business, where pet projects and narrow interests are set aside.

Some at the meeting bemoaned a lack of connection between business people and those making decisions at the city.

“It’s frustrating. We watch all this happening, and yet nothing is happening,” said one man, after he said he had followed two years of city meetings about downtown issues.

Another man suggested that downtown is at a turning point, and yet business and the city are fighting with one another, alluding to recent controversy overthat will require closing Main Street at the entrance to downtown off of Foothill Expressway for several weeks this summer, and First Street between State Street and Main for possibly four months.

Just steps away from the Northern Trust Bank building on Third Street where the event was held, several construction projects were underway, either by city crews on Main and First streets, or commercial projects, such as the new Packard Foundation building bordered by San Antonio Road and Whitney and Second streets.

Yet meeting participants said the city still has a long way to go when it comes to planning long-term infrastructure. Several said they wanted to see a more cohesive plan for parking structures, more housing density, social gathering places — either commercial, like restaurants, or civic, like a park — and a better connection between the civic center and downtown.

Other ideas that came up during the brainstorming session:

• Restaurants that are "current and with it"
• "Leaders that are plugged into the community"
• More participation by city council members and local media in chamber meetings
• More participation by business people in planning commission and city council meetings
• A movie theater
• A pedestrian mall
• Longer retail businss hours
• Following best practices of other cities that have revitalized downtown areas

Cranston said a group he helped found, Los Altos 2025, looked at best practices of other cities. One strategy he said kick started revitalizations downtown Palo Alto was in lieu parking, where businesses can purchase or lease parking spaces elsewhere in downtown so that they can expand their own operations.

Creating spaces for nightlife and socialization was also key, as well as leveraging transportation to and within the area. While Los Altos doesn’t have access to Cal Train, like other cities, Cranston suggested the city could take advantage of the large amount of bicyclists in the region.