Illustration courtesy of Willys Peck
Map of proposed town center design, printed in Santa Clara County Planning Department's 1956 'A General Plan for Saratoga.'
Saratoga Stereopticon
Old planning document sheds light on city
By Willys Peck
Welcome to Never-Never Land. Back in the late Pleistocene Age when Saratoga became a city--OK, OK, so it was only 44 years ago--certain visionaries in the Santa Clara County Planning Department set down their proposal for a general plan that would make the most of the area's matchless scenic setting, strategic location and rich historical background.
The plan, of course, had no legal force, but it represented what the planners saw as a means of meeting the following stated objectives: "uncrowded living through maintenance of low densities; a country atmosphere free of urban type improvements; living areas buffered from other land uses; minimum-maintenance living accommodations near the town center for retired people and families without children."
Now, nearing the dawn of a new millennium (that's right, I'm one of those 2001 freaks), it seems appropriate to look back and see how these objectives have fared. As you can see from the accompanying diagram, one is as far away from realization as ever. This is the transformation of the present Big Basin Way into a landscaped pedestrian mall, with vehicular traffic routed around it in new, one-way streets. The plan also calls for a "circumferential parkway" ringing the Village center at a farther distance. Definitely not in the cards now, in view of the present residential density.
Speaking of multiple housing units, the county's proposed plan had plenty of garden apartments, including one where my house is located. The Fruitvale Avenue Civic Center was several years away, and the plan envisioned one, including a library, on the northwest side of Saratoga Avenue.
Proposed residential use would cover 7,736 acres, constituting 85.88 percent of land use, with the categories described as "estates (could they have been thinking of monster houses?), suburban and multi-family." Other land-use figures include: commercial, 297 acres, or 0.57 percent; schools and recreation, 297 acres, or 3.46 percent; and agriculture reserve, 424 acres, or 4.93 percent.
That was 1956. Now what?
Saratoga, California Since 1955
