The Silicon Valley cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale are alike in many ways. But their downtowns offer a study in contrasts because of land use decisions made 30 years ago.
Like many suburbs in the 1970s, Sunnyvale approved and subsidized development of a mall as a way of "saving" downtown. It didn't work out that way in the in the long-run, as the mall itself blocked downtown progress.
While Sunnyvale was building a mall, though, neighboring Mountain View was laying the groundwork for what is now a thriving suburban downtown. Was it all foresight and good land use planning by Mountain View city leaders, or was there some luck involved?
Thanks to Paul Shigley
FULL STORY: Sunnyvale, Mountain View Provide Different Downtown Stories
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Placer County
Mayors' Institute on City Design
City of Sunnyvale
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP)
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Portland, ME
Baton Rouge Area Foundation