What Defines Village Character?

Posted on January 3, 2011 by David Casas 
Filed under Featured Story · Tagged: , , ,

There are as many descriptions of Los Altos, as there are resident.  Carol & I enjoy hearing about the characteristics residents use to define this community they love so much. The most common title used is that Los Altos is a Village.

There are a number of projects underway around the community.  During each planning phase, the community has had the opportunity to participate in framing what they would like to see improved, and/or retain.

So, what exactly defines Village character?  Well, the Town Crier recently dove into this subject.  Below, is an slightly edited version of their article.  Enjoy …

As construction moves toward completion on streetscape improvements in downtown Los Altos, the disruption to traffic – autos and otherwise – will become a distant memory when newly planted flowers are blooming and pedestrians replace detour placards.

After all, the impetus for infrastructure improvements was to boost business, draw developers and create a lively and vibrant village for visitors. But before the streetscape construction began, city officials adopted Downtown Design Guidelines in December 2009, outlining architectural and design elements for the residential and commercial areas within the triangle bordered by Foothill Expressway, San Antonio Road and West Edith Avenue.

The guidelines apply to all new construction, additions, exterior-facade changes, landscaping and signage. Particularly applied to the downtown core – Main and State streets, and Second and Third streets between parking plazas – the goal is to preserve, maintain and improve the village character that merchants and property owners have cultivated through the years. But ask a business owner what village character is, and there are as many responses as there are definitions in a dictionary.

Even the design guidelines acknowledge the term’s ambiguity – “Village Character is often hard to define, and harder to preserve.”

Of the first two of 24 features outlined for downtown’s core district, maintaining the traditional village and Main Street architectural styles while encouraging a wide diversity of building forms can seem a little nebulous for a town that was built over several decades and influenced by different construction styles, especially post-World War II.

But one thing is certain – “In the 1920s and 1930s, downtown was the place to be,” according to Laura Bajuk, executive director of the Los Altos History Museum.

“To me, when I think of a village, it’s quaint,” said Dawn Mauel, sales assistant at Main Street’s Cover Story. “And you want it to be a (unique) place where you can go and meet friends, with a community feel.”

Perhaps in its earliest years, Los Altos truly exuded a village atmosphere. “In 1910, small settlements like Saratoga and Los Altos were called villages,” Bajuk said. “Los Altos was called ‘village in the foothills.’”

But what semi-small town can be described as a village today? “Carmel – it’s quaint, interesting and near the water,” Mauel said.

Interestingly, the Downtown Design Guidelines use several Carmel landmarks as examples of what Los Altos’ downtown core district could look like. Courtyards, paseos, arbors, trellises, outdoor dining, integrated art and landscaping and attractive parking areas with interesting paths to shopping areas are just some of the features Carmel possesses that the Los Altos City Council adopted as design guidelines.

It was the shopping-mall mania of the 1960s that motivated three downtown Los Altos merchants to form the Los Altos Village Association in 1963 – there’s that village again – according to Nancy Dunaway, the organization’s current executive director.

Dunaway said village charm isn’t any one thing. “It’s the quaint buildings, the stores, people meeting and events that draw people downtown,” she said. “Los Altos is a very unique community. We have the Holiday Stroll, the Festival of Lights Parade and the Homecoming Parade. All of those things are part of the village charm. It’s like a recipe – there are so many ingredients.”

For a small village that enticed people to the area in a 1909 publication with “Even the mud is better in Los Altos,” most merchants would agree advertising dirt is not the way to go. And they may not agree on what a village comprises, but people most definitely comprise a village.

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