Los Gatos Weekly-Times

When money talks, charm disappears

By Elizabeth Park

As a Los Gatos resident since 1990, I've watched the town grow. When referring to Los Gatos, I used "town" without any question that, yes, it was still a town. Now, I'm not so certain.

Developers eye orchard land, tired, old but quaint homes, corner lots where Goodwill trucks rest, hillsides and nearby sleepy valleys for big business buildings and modern mini-mansions (as many as could possibly fit on a plot and still be called single-family homes).

Some call it progress. Let's be honest. The name of the game is money, and "money" doesn't seem to be caring much about beauty, quaintness, warmth or character.

Supposedly, there's a Los Gatos committee [setting standards for] Los Gatos Boulevard so it represents the town's beauty and uniqueness. Where are these people? Were they on vacation when Hollywood Video moved in, with that hideous, oversized dome top that blocks Los Gatos' mountain view?

It seems someone was caring about what they were doing when the Cornerstone Shopping Center was refaced. It's just the right size, not grossly tall, with a clean, simple mountain look.

It frightens me to think what's going in on the corner of Blossom Hill Road and Los Gatos Boulevard. Another Stevens Creek "mini" car lot? Or perhaps a Cupertino-looking speedy car lube. Or better yet, a downsized, cinder-block depot building that represents just another link in the chain-store trend.

And what's going to happen to the big old houses on Los Gatos Boulevard? Are they going to be replaced with condos?

I lived in Los Angeles most of my growing-up years. I moved to Northern California to get away from the concrete, bumper-to-bumper traffic and the faceless passersby on its sidewalks.

Most Los Gatans laugh at L.A.'s build-more, build-bigger mentality. Yet I see L.A. happening right under my nose in our town.

For starters, the hillsides of Los Gatos have hundreds more lights shining from them than when I first saw them in 1988. One home after another has gone up, some snuggled up to the hills so as to not stick out like an ugly whitehead on an attractive hillside landscape. Other homes resemble L.A.'s "best." Money, in some cases, isn't synonymous with good taste or class.

The natural beauty of Los Gatos is dwindling away. In L.A., what our town is building up on its wonderfully appealing hillside, where bikers, runners, hikers and mountain strollers play, is called Mulholland Drive.

And as far as crowded drives, I travel Los Gatos Boulevard during commute, or, I should say, the inability to commute. I once traveled down its lanes at speed-limit pace. Now, at snail's pace, it really doesn't matter if the lanes are 10 or 11 feet wide.

As an aside, I'd rather see happy, healthy, rosy-cheeked cyclists riding along the boulevard than contrasting auto-driving smokers who use our sidewalks for their cigarette-butt waste.

Safety, progress, whatever! Money's a much clearer term to use when getting to the bottom line of what's destroying Los Gatos. Money--developers who have it and those who want more of it. And in this case, "money" doesn't seem to be caring much about beauty, quaintness, warmth or character.

Elizabeth Park is a resident of Los Gatos.

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