Positive change ahead for Los Altos

Recent news beyond Los Altos has been less than sunny, let’s face it: The national economy remains shaky, gas is officially more than $4 a gallon, the death toll from last week’s cyclone disaster in Myanmar could exceed 100,000 and another disaster close behind it – the 7.8 earthquake that hit China on Monday, killing nearly 9,000 people.

All the more reason to count our blessings on the local scene. Certainly, the high quality of life in Los Altos is well documented, but here’s another thing to consider: Numerous plans and projects under way bid to make this community even better.

To wit: City staff finally implemented a long-budgeted but unacted-upon plan to beautify the San Antonio Road corridor leading into downtown. This included cleaning up debris and adding flowers and other new plantings, specifically 150 new plum trees.

The council recently approved two new downtown buildings from developer Jeff Warmoth that promise to add vitality to the center of town.

The most notable is a project at 45 Main St., at the intersection of Main and San Antonio. It will fill a barren lot that has been an eyesore at the entrance of town for decades. The other, on Third Street, brings a new three-story structure to downtown, allowable under new zoning changes as part of efforts to reinvigorate business.

Then there’s the city’s streetscape plan for beautifying First Street, which will accent new development. This includes the lot at State and Main streets that the city will sell, along with expansion of the Safeway market and replacement of the old post office.

Outside downtown, the city is addressing the fading Loyola Corners business district with a landscape and sidewalk improvement plan. Plans also are afoot to address the Sherwood Triangle area and its current unattractive conditions.

Meanwhile, efforts are in motion for the master plan to rebuild the Los Altos civic and community center. Consultants Anderson Brulé Architects and a center advisory committee already have collected significant community feedback on service needs. The goal is for ABA to come up with several concepts, based on that feedback, to present before the advisory committee in November. With resident support, a newly revamped civic/community center could become Los Altos’ biggest and best capital improvement project in the past 50 years.

So, there’s cause for optimism in Los Altos, even if the economy is not where we’d like it to be.

It’s also encouraging that Los Altos residents don’t act like they live in a bubble, but are compassionate and continue to help others. Witness, for instance, the bake sale in front of Starbucks in downtown Los Altos last weekend in support of the Myanmar survivors.

While the structural improvements are nice and we look forward to them, ultimately we’re proud of the quality of people that make Los Altos the great community it is.