This particular Saturday night—it being graduation week—Saratoga's downtown is busier than usual. Even so, the Village looks deserted by late evening.

On the edge of Big Basin Way, a long stream of cars on Highway 9 heads toward Los Gatos. Very few make the right turn into the Village.

Where would they go anyway? The retail shops have long since closed. The restaurants are emptying out.

Rolando Locci, co-owner of the Sent Sovi restaurant, has been a business owner in Saratoga for just more than a year now and has long gotten used to a deserted downtown.

"It's a cute, nice town. We are near people with a lot of disposable income," says Locci. He says the moment someone mentions Saratoga, nice things come to mind. But his business is not doing as well as it should.

"It's a small town. My first couple of months, I used to stand on the sidewalk and introduce myself and tell them about my restaurant. I even got a fair number to come in and try my restaurant," says Locci.

He says it worked for a while, but Sent Sovi is at one corner of the Village, and there's only so much talking that he could do.

"A lot of times there is nobody on the street," he adds, "especially where I'm located."

He says that he has tried to strategize and talk with as many business owners as possible. "There are a lot of things in Saratoga we can take advantage of," says Locci. But every time there has been talk about some new business plans, it has fizzled out.

"There are some festivals, but the merchants don't make a lot of money," he says. "We are a classy town with so much potential. We could have a chef competition, a music festival. It could be anything that brought more people downtown."

More than one merchant in the area feels that Saratoga should aspire to be like Carmel, or even Los Gatos—nice, unique and cute but still a great place to do business.

Karen Grellas, the proprietor of Viaggio, a Mediterranean-themed restaurant on Big Basin Way, remembers the time of the dot-com boom when there would be frequent client meetings at her restaurant. She has had to reconfigure her menu to suit the changing times and fit in some more moderately priced items.

"Saratoga has always been very different from Los Gatos," says Grellas. "We have always had less traffic."

But even so, she feels that the city hasn't done enough to attract new merchants and make it an easy place to do business. "The driving force in this city is the homeowners, but they should realize that if there is no viable downtown, property values might be affected," says Grellas.

Kristin Davis, executive director at the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, knows the pain of trying to do business in the city.

For 10 years, she owned and operated an antique store called the Front Window near the Gateway Mall.

"It was extremely frustrating. I just could not get locals to do business with me," says Davis.

She recalls the day when a resident dropped by her shop. She confessed to Davis that she had bought something that was available at the Saratoga shop in Santa Cruz at a higher price.

"I was disappointed that a local resident would drive all the way to Santa Cruz and pay more money for the same thing. But that is the reality of doing business in Saratoga," says Davis.

She says that people do not realize the importance of keeping their tax dollars local.

"Everyone wants something different in Saratoga. There is no meeting of minds," says Davis.

She says that the businesses are here because they believe in the community and want to be part of the community.

"I believe that there is this vision among the people who live here that this a primarily rural community and that is the vision that still drives this town," says Davis.

An opinion piece from the West Valley Times in March 1969 talks proudly about the rural beauty of Saratoga: "The city is not only rich in its natural beauty and historical aspects, but has succeeded in remaining a primary bedroom community, excluding both heavy and light industry from its city limits."

Some business owners say that this spirit still prevails in the community.

But Big Basin Way still had businesses that would draw people downtown. "I remember the hardware store and the clothing store that was back here in the '70s and the movie theater before that," says Davis.

"In the late '40s and '50s, the downtown area had several grocery stores. Farmers came here to buy replacement parts for tractors," says April Halberstadt, curator at the Saratoga Historical Museum

"There were four gas stations at the corner of Highway 9 and Big Basin and that drew a lot of people, too," says Halberstadt.

According to the Historical Museum, Big Basin Way was the first road over the hills from the Santa Clara mission to the ocean. It is one of the oldest roads in the county and was called Big Basin because it served as an access to Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

Miles Rankin, longtime real estate broker in downtown Saratoga, has seen the Village area from up close for the last 40 years. "We had more people going up and down before," he says. And that was because there were more utilitarian stores. "We do not have a good mix of business. There is nothing here to draw people," says Rankin. He also indicated that there were too many offices in the area instead of too many retailers.

And then there are the restrictions that business owners allude to.

In 2002, the city served the Chamber with a citation for being in violation of an ordinance because of a Celebrate Saratoga! banner it had installed on a building. Davis has kept the citation pinned to a board in her office.

"The rules are such that shops cannot even hang a balloon outside without being cited," says Davis.

Added to that is the perceived parking problem downtown. "There is plenty of parking. The problem is everyone wants to park right next to the store they are going to. Where were people parking when every restaurant was full in 2000?" asks Davis.

Danielle Surdin, the city's economic development coordinator, says that the downturn in the economy has hit every commercial center.

Surdin insists that things are changing slowly in the Village. "The new benches and trash cans have helped," she says.

A façade improvement program has been planned by the city to improve the look of businesses. A free shuttle program will soon start operating from the village on concert nights to ferry people to Montalvo.

But most of the retail stores in the Village still close early in the evening. Bill Cooper, the owner of Bella Saratoga, says, "We would like the shops to remain open later. They would also get more customers."

"We're hoping that the shuttle program will get a lot of foot traffic to the Village," says Surdin. "But we cannot force merchants to stay open late into the night."

Surdin says that the city is trying to "synergise" the entertainment and the food business. "We hope that Saratoga becomes a place where people come for the weekend," she says.

Surdin says that growth in the Village area can only be limited, because the city does not have space and infrastructure like Los Gatos.

Judy Coulter owns the UPS Store in the Village and was formerly on the board of the Chamber of Commerce. "The city keeps doing studies. There is no sense of direction," she says.

Coulter suggests more activities for children to attract more crowds downtown.

Davis cites the example of the Argonaut Shopping Center to illustrate the importance of big business.

"Small businesses might have a chance to succeed when they are next to a big business that gets a lot of foot traffic," she says. "Look at Argonaut. It's always crowded."

Over at the Argonaut Shopping Center on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, there seems to be much more foot traffic. People dart in and out of the various shops in the area.

Sandra Humphrey, a Saratoga resident, is picking up some groceries. "There is nothing to shop for at the Village. There is no place that appeals to me. I go to Los Gatos all the time. It would be nice if they could move Los Gatos downtown to the Village," says Humphrey.

Mei Ling Cummings, another regular shopper at Argonaut, says, "There are no convenience stores at the Village, there is no Longs or Safeway."

Davis says that only 1 percent of the land in Saratoga is commercially zoned. "The city and businesses are still here because they believe in this community and in being part of it," says Davis.

Uncorked, a wine store that opened in the Village in early 2003, has managed to carve out a niche for itself. "Saratoga was an untapped resource. My revenues are way beyond what was projected," says Patrick Rupert, one of the co-owners.

But Rupert's is a lone voice. Most businesses want the city to do something to get more people into the Village.

"The more reasons there are to come to the Village, the better for all businesses," adds Locci. "Put in a Jamba Juice, put in a P.F. Chang. I don't care."

Locci says that he is in competition with restaurants in other locations anyway. "Unless Saratoga becomes a destination, we are in big trouble," he predicts.

"We have very few festivals. The farmers market is not downtown," says Locci. "I want people to wake up on a Saturday morning and think of Saratoga as a destination. I would be happy if a taco shop opened up nearby."

There is some entrenched stagnant thinking among some residents, suggests Locci. "If that's what they want, it will continue to atrophy."

Both Locci and Grellas feel that big-money investors should be welcomed into the Village as long as everything is tastefully done.

"Think of all the tax dollars the city would be making if Saratoga became an easier place to do business," says Locci. "Willow Glen does a lot of business and has still managed to retain its quaint charm."

Locci says that he is almost sure that no one in the Village is making the revenue they want even though retail rents are lower than other cities.

"As a destination, Saratoga is an inferior choice. You cannot walk around, window shop and pop into lunch because there is nothing much to do," says Locci. "We are five years behind the curve."

"I think it's getting a little bit too hard to attract people. I think it's going to be a long time before things change," he adds. "We have lost our competitive edge as a destination. I'm surprised at how slow it is. If I were to open it again, I would have done more due diligence and checked to see what the city does to promote business."

Locci says that he likes doing business in Saratoga and that he is not giving up.

"We're looking for a bit of love here," says Locci. "We're hoping that someone will make it easier for us to do business in this city."

The Village has the look. Now Saratoga just needs the people.