Dear City Council,
I am writing in response to your call for thoughts on the plaza.
I am a 68-year-old resident on Crane Street, and I frequently visit
Walgreens to collect prescriptions and handle other necessities. I walk
when the weather is good and drive when its not. I dont ride a bike
around Menlo because the traffic is too intense and I have twice been hit
by cars. (But I do think the bike lanes are great!)
The plaza experiment was interesting during the Covid period, but I would
say it has failed on two fronts.
First, as a piece of public urban design its disappointing. The space
looks cheap and makeshift. Compare it, for example, to the nice area PA
created at the top of University a few years ago. Apart from a gaggle of
school kids who gather for a short time after school, I dont really know
that anyone makes use of it.
Second, the space greatly inconveniences folks coming and going from
Walgreens. We can no longer park in front of Walgreens, and the back
parking lot is often full as well as treacherous to navigate. I should add
that the majority of people coming and going from Walgreens are mostly
elderly, and the citys priority should be to make their access by car or
foot as safe and direct as possible.
I support Option 3. Lets remove the plaza. Menlo Park has a very pleasant
public space at Fremont Park, a few blocks away, and the plaza in front of
Borrone is a short walk away in the other direction.
If we are going to invest in downtown, which we should, lets update the
sidewalks and the crossings and median so we can all take pride in a
handsome looking downtown.
Sincerely, - Ned Desmond
