The present establishments are pretty much latter-day, but Saratoga could be said to have had a nail salon as far back as the middle of the last century. We called it a lumberyard. That was the Sterling Lumber Co., located where a dental office now is on Saratoga­Los Gatos Road near Oak Street. It had a good selection of building materials, including nails of all sizes. There was another, er, nail salon in the greatly missed hardware store on Big Basin Way. So much for heavy-handed humor.

The subject of nail salons has come up with the city in terms of personal-service businesses that deal with customers on a one-on-one basis, compared with those that create foot traffic, especially retail establishments that enhance city revenues. And here, the parking situation rears its ugly head.

It might be worthwhile to look back and trace the development of downtown businesses. In the first place, there is the factor I often mention about Saratoga's business district being the victim of history and topography. Our main business street, Big Basin Way, was originally Lumber Street because this was the route taken by the lumber wagons as they came down from the mills in the mountains.

Although I've never made any measurements, I think it would have been possible to have a parallel street, even with the creek on one side and the hillside on the other, if the lumber wagons had taken a slightly different route. But such things as horseless carriages would not have been the concern of the teamsters as they guided their loaded wagons along what seemed the most direct route that is now the main street. Today, a parallel street is necessary for adequate traffic circulation, and we don't have a convenient one. Oak Street would be the nearest, and it's up on the hill.

The businesses that grew up along Lumber Street were those needed by the developing community. True, there was an abundance of saloons, and I never tire of quoting the statement in a newspaper of the 1880s that "to be a drunk from Saratoga was the last word in drunkenness." But this era passed with the advent of agriculture, and the orchardists had more serious things to think about.

In my own memory of the Village, from the late 1920s through the 1950s, I think of it as a place where businesses were there because they were needed. I can remember four grocery stores, each of which offered home delivery; three auto-repair garages, one of which included a new-car agency; four gas stations—back then they were "service stations"—where prices were competitive and you could get a lube job; a laundry; a dry cleaner's; a dry-goods and later a department store; and personal-service establishments such as barber shops and a beauty salon. Oh yes, there was also a blacksmith shop.

I would say that none of these depended on traffic circulation. Saratoga was not a "destination" in the current sense. Today, I would classify Los Gatos as a classic shoppers' destination. It has two parallel main streets, Santa Cruz and University avenues, and an off-street parking lot between them where the railroad right of way had been. Farther down, there are two-level parking facilities.

If you have ever driven along downtown N. Santa Cruz Avenue, you'll know that pedestrians are in control. This is browsing territory. You name it, they've got it.

I certainly don't expect Saratoga to get into that league, or even try to. Personally, I prefer the small-town atmosphere. There has been a creditable attempt to solve the traffic-circulation problem with off-street parking, and that's probably the most that can be done. I trust our city council, in its wisdom, to handle the personal-service issue effectively. All I ask is that the matter be approached with a knowledge of the problems.