Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
Recently I was in Downtown Los Gatos. The main street traffic flows nicely, the shops and restaurants are busy, and it looks nice….everything that Menlo Park isn’t. We should follow Los Gatos’ example.
First, we need to open up the street closure and remove all the unsightly concrete and water-filled plastic barriers. Next, we need to implement that all the street cafes should have a standardized design, with concrete planters and metal railing…this would be aesthetically pleasing and not look haphazard; follow Los Gatos’ design. Many of the restaurants have placed seating areas that have too large of a scale (Camper for example, takes up two streets, and it is highly under-utilized).
Another improvement would be to get rid of the after-thought picnic tables in front of Walgreens and create an area of inviting picnic tables in Fremont Park (where the expanse of bark is along University Drive). This would increase the utilization of Fremont Park. With Dreagers and Peet’s right across the street students would have easy access for drinks and snacks. Having a food truck or ice cream truck parked in the park would be a huge draw and fun for students a couple of times a week.
Perhaps the City Maintenance crews could sweep and power wash the sidewalks, and refurbish and maintain the planter areas and garbage cans….all of these are in disrepair, with bare dirt in many of the planter areas.
Get the traffic back to normal, make the street dining areas look permanent, clean up and refresh the planters, and create an inviting space in Fremont Park. Downtown will look lively and proud again.
Will send separate email with photos of Los Gatos and Menlo Park.
Sincerely,
Noel Smith
