7JFXQPJOU N EDITORIAL
Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
N S TA F F Publisher Tom Gibboney
Editorial Managing Editor Andrea Gemmet Staff Writers Daniel DeBolt, Nick Veronin Intern Emily Hamilton Photographer Michelle Le Photo Intern James Tensuan Contributors Dale Bentson, Angela Hey, Sheila Himmel, Jennifer Pence, Monica Schreiber
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â– YOUR LETTERS â– GUEST OPINIONS
N GUEST OPINION
THE OPINION OF THE VOICE
VOICE FROM THE COMMUNITY
How far to go for high-speed rail?
Don’t forget ‘hip’ in city’s plan
f Mountain View wants a high-speed rail terminal here there is a major catch: the city would have to provide 3,000 parking spaces, including 1,000 adjacent to the station, as well as make room for a 65,000-square-foot terminal building, Mayor Ronit Bryant said last week. When they considered adding high-speed rail to its transit center, which already accommodates Caltrain, Light Rail, and county buses, city officials had no idea what the commitment entailed. But after Mayor Bryant disclosed what the city would have to do to be in the running to host the terminal, the council may have second thoughts. At this point, it is not clear that the city could even find a location for 1,000 spaces adjacent to the station and another 2,000 no more than three miles away from the transit center. For comparison, the city’s new garage at California and Bryant streets has 405 spaces, which is less than half the requirement for hosting a terminal. And if Mountain View is the chosen stop, the rail authority “is planning to build just the basic stuff. They are budgeting for basic infrastructure. Cities would pay for enhancements,� Mayor Bryant said. In another high-speed rail development, at a San Francisco board meeting last week the authority announced that deep tunnels and covered trenches have been ruled out as options on most of the Peninsula rail corridor, leaving either open trenches or at-grade installation the only options for Mountain View. At this point, it is not clear how Peninsula cities will cope without the heavily favored deep tunneling option, which is viewed by the rail authority as too costly. The remaining below-grade option, open trenches, will now be the preferred design, as other Peninsula cities are almost unanimously against elevating trains 45 feet off the ground on a berm or viaduct, which they feel would erect a huge barrier between neighborhoods on either side of the tracks. With its decision last week, the rail authority made no friends among Peninsula cities, which had been promised that designs and presentations would be posted online at least five days ahead of board meetings. But on this occasion, city representatives did not learn about the decision until just minutes before the meeting. Menlo Park Mayor Rich Cline, who chairs a consortium of cities with concerns about high-speed rail, said the authority was not “playing by the rules.� At this stage, the City Council will need to take a hard look at whether it is worth going forward with the idea of hosting a high-speed rail terminal in Mountain View. Besides providing a large “intermediate� terminal of 65,000 square feet, the platform would have to be extended to accommodate the longer high-speed trains of up to 1,300 feet, a quarter of a mile. It is not clear how such a long platform would fit if trains were running in an open trench, with passengers embarking below grade and accessing the terminal via escalators or stairs. The council is not yet solidly behind becoming an intermediate stop between San Francisco and San Jose, but members did vote in 2009 to have the rail authority study a potential stop, which put the city in competition with Palo Alto and Redwood City. So far, the authority has not said whether a study is underway.
â– MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE â– AUGUST 13, 2010
â– EDITORIAL
By Emma Mae Carr
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just graduated from Los Altos High this year but as a longtime resident of the city, I have some definite opinions about the future of Mountain View I would like to share. It is a great idea to spruce up the city, but the current plans don’t go far enough. Mountain View has potential to become a hip place — somewhere people want to visit and don’t have to explain, “I live 45 miles south of San Francisco.� These building plans are the meal ticket to put Mountain View on the map. If you are raised here, you are familiar with every type of person and culture, which I greatly appreciate. We should embrace that by making our city more of a draw, rather than just adding more dry cleaners. Castro Street is the only place that’s developed a decent night life, with ethnic restaurants, clubs, and bars open late. Mountain View resident Robert was smart in pointing out that Moffett Boulevard is a place to extend “the downtown environment.� Absolutely. I also like the idea of building higher on El Camino, especially if the “walkable� idea is incorporated. Who wants to spend time on El Camino now, as it is? The corner of Rengstorff and Middlefield also has potential. There’s already a Starbucks. The Monta Loma neighborhood is still waiting for that ex-grocery store to come back to life. Every shopping center like that doesn’t always have to have the standard dry cleaner and liquor store. There is a captive audience eager for hip, independent stores. The same is true with the area
around the movie theater complex on Shoreline. It’s always had a trashy air to it, but that could change. Besides, if you’re considering putting a hotel there, shouldn’t there be attractions that would entice people to stay in the hotel? Chris Banen said, “The idea is not to recreate downtown� in the North Bayshore neighborhood. Umm, disagree! If you’re expanding the housing and practical parts of the city, shouldn’t you also expand the entertainment industry? We need independent coffee shops, hip restaurants and unique shopping. What about a music nightclub where local bands play? And the bigger issue is you’re only aiming to help future Google employees. Help the die-hard MV fans also, why don’t you! I also hope the architecture for this future construction will steer clear from the design of standard suburban buildings. Mountain View is home to fantastically innovative people. Show the rest of the Bay Area how much we drip in culture. Give them spicy architecture. When it comes to the San Antonio Shopping Center, I love the idea of something besides a rundown Sears. That space goes to waste and looks trashy. Embarrassing. Where’s the flare? Even with the Santana Row-esque idea. Don’t just make a pretty mall with chain stores. After all, Mountain View is the heart of Silicon Valley! We’re original people. We need to reflect that in our businesses. I’m such a fan of this town, and Castro Street is just the beginning. Let’s see what else we can do. Emma Mae Carr is 18 and just graduated from Los Altos High. She is taking a gap year in France this fall and has lived in Mountain View most of her life.