Dear Mayor Combs and City Council members,
While I addressed the Council in favor of making the street closure permanent, I did this believing we’d continue to have the Bon Marche street market that Ali launched several years ago, where we could buy French delicacies, enjoy freshly made crepes, purchase fresh pasta and Italian sauces, organic produce and more. And outdoors in the summer, Bistro Vida also roasted sausages and red peppers, serving them on toasted baguettes, along with wine for sale by the glass. It was a great party! People sat on picnic tables chatting, laughing and enjoying community.
But now I see no mention of the Bon Marche vendors, and instead a head-scratching proposal for a dog park, hopscotch, and a children’s play zone in the plaza. This is the opposite of the “vibrancy” you claim is a high priority. This is not what people look for on the main street of a downtown shopping district. I can just imagine people from Woodside and Atherton saying: “Let’s head over to Menlo Park’s downtown. I hear they have a new dog-park!”
Nor do most kids play checkers today—but if they wanted to, no problem They can bring their checker boards to the picnic tables. No need for city planning required. As for corn-hole games or bocce ball, these proposals are so unsuitable for Santa Cruz Avenue that I’m embarrassed for whoever suggested them. “Interactive light shows” are another bad idea, as any form of strobe lights are a known seizure trigger and generally unhealthy by causing well-documented overstimulation of the brain and nervous system.
And I shudder to think what the “tactile surfaces” may look like.
This is our business district, replete with upscale shops and restaurants that draw customers from many neighboring cities as well as providing for the needs and wants of our residents. Ali had created a delightful space with a classy European vibe that suits our downtown shopping district. Why not begin by recreating it? Refinements or changes can be made in the future if desired.
Santa Cruz Avenue is not a shipboard game area or a children’s playground. It’s a dynamic shopping center.
Don’t spoil it.
Sincerely,
Cherie Zaslawsky
