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By Paul Losch
About this blog: I was a "corporate brat" growing up and lived in different parts of the country, ending in Houston, Texas for high school. After attending college at UC Davis, and getting an MBA at Harvard, I embarked on a marketing career, mai...
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About this blog: I was a "corporate brat" growing up and lived in different parts of the country, ending in Houston, Texas for high school. After attending college at UC Davis, and getting an MBA at Harvard, I embarked on a marketing career, mainly in the Bay Area with different companies. My former wife went back to medical school after we had been married a few years, and we moved into married student housing at Stanford, had our two now adult children while she was a medical student, and moved into Palo Alto when she started her Residency. Been here ever since. As my kids were going through the Palo Alto schools, I was actively involved in their activities, most notably head umpire for Palo Alto Little League and 9 years as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, among other activities. My kids both are grown, my son teaches 5th grade locally, and my daughter, fluent in Mandarin, is working in China. I sold the business I owned and ran for 8 years in 2012, worked on the Obama campaign, and am consulting for non-profit organizations, which gives me a nice, flexible schedule. Lots of stamps in my passport, and for fun, I like live performances &emdash; theater and music - and of course the Giants!
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Make University Ave. University Plaza
Uploaded: Nov 25, 2010
I just finished reading an article in Esquire magazine about initiatives in New York City to establish plazas in such parts of Manhattan as Times Square, Union Square, Madison Square, along with some commentary about downtown Portland Oregon. I also am personally familiar with Pearl Street Mall in Boulder Colorado. All these venues were once major auto corridors and now are pedestrian only.
I think University Avenue in Palo Alto is a candidate for this sort of transformation. It is an awful street to drive on, and those of us who live in town know better. Hamilton and Lytton are much better ways to get between Middlefield and Alma.
I also am of the point of view that this could be just the thing to help revitalize a moribund downtown Palo Alto. Too many store fronts have sat empty for years. Too many retail shops that are not "chains" come and go in too short a time. The Esquire article indicates that retail sales in Time Square are up 71% since it went "plaza!"
Such an idea needs a champion or champions to make it happen. I would be such a champion if I did not have a day job. But I would be willing to be part of a group that advocates this idea.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?
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