How often have you envied a town you’ve visited for its quaint streets, safe pedestrian environment, and friendly-looking business situated nicely along the street behind a sidewalk or pedestrian walkway? Many of us in Portola Valley travel far and wide to spend time in towns like that, as if they are historic constructs of a bygone era — often in Europe, or perhaps some off-the-beaten-path-areas in the US.
On returning home, did you bemoan how different things are on El Camino, Sunnyvale-Saratoga, Woodside Road, or so many of the roads we travel every day? I know I have. But it wasn’t until recently that I learned about ideas to change things.
There are plenty of groups trying to help, but the one that struck home for me is Strong Towns. At heart, Strong Towns proposes that we need both streets — low-speed places for cars, people, and bicycles to cooperatively move between businesses — and residences — places where wealth is created. Areas with streets can be connected by roads. Pavement built to allow rapid movement between wealth-creation areas served by streets.