The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Amado Burgos (left, front) steals the ball from Chad Green at last weekend's teen basketball night. Chad Green (right) protects the basketball as he moves in for a shot. License for Fun Teen nights aim to keep area youth in Sunnyvale and out of trouble Sunnyvale might be a hip place for tech-heads and other professionals, but teenagers say the city is about as cool as hanging out with mom at the mall. "Sunnyvale is a boring city," said Homestead High School sophomore Wayne Chang, 15, echoing the sentiments of many teenagers. Eighteen-year-old Antonio Freitas, who serves as vice president of the Sunnyvale Teen Advisory Council said, "There's nothing to do here, so teens go somewhere else." Now, to help stem the exodus--and to keep teenagers from finding trouble--the city is launching its latest effort to give Sunnyvale teenagers something to do within city limits. After watching two teen centers rise and fold in Sunnyvale, the city hired outside consultants this summer to survey teenagers and assess their true needs. The findings of the study are scheduled to be presented at the Nov. 10 City Council meeting. The study pointed to what area teenagers already know: There's nothing to do in Sunnyvale. In the meantime, high school students now have a new place to hang out on Saturday nights. Three weeks ago, the city started a coffeehouse night exclusively for Sunnyvale high school students. Known as the Fishbowl, the evening event features teenage bands, poets and performers. It will be held at Le Boulanger Cafe at N. Mathilda Avenue from 7 to 11 p.m. every Saturday through Dec. 19. After the pilot run, city officials and teen advocates will examine its effectiveness. At the grand opening, Lynne Pace Green, the city's teen coordinator, said the event went off better than expected. "I had thought that I would be happy with at least 50 kids showing up for opening night because I didn't have an idea of how many would show up," she said. "We definitely exceeded that. Everyone seemed to walk away with good perceptions about it, so hopefully they'll tell their friends." Pace Green aims to schedule between three and four entertainment acts each week. On the opening weekend, two bands, an acoustic guitar player and a tap dancer performed. "One of the biggest successes [of the evening } was how strong the entertainment was," Pace Green said. "We definitely will have back all of the performers over the course of the program." The only requirement for the performers is that they be reflective of their audience: homegrown and in their teens. At last Saturday's Fishbowl, Sunnyvale Teen Advisory Council president Nora Go, 16, was asked what she would otherwise be doing on a Saturday night. She winced and said, "Go to San Jose?" Sunnyvale teens who have a driver's license and access to a car, it seems, have been fleeing to neighboring cities. Destinations include University Avenue in Palo Alto, Castro Street in Mountain View, downtown Los Gatos, and downtown San Jose. Why not Murphy Avenue? "Murphy Avenue?" asked Freitas. "It's about this big," he said, holding his hands out the length of a restaurant table. Freitas said the competing destinations offer coffee shops, movie theaters, book shops, clothing stores, and, importantly, other teenagers. "Even the malls here are no good," Chang said as he checked high school IDs at the door Saturday night. Chang said the Sunnyvale Town Center and Vallco lacked "good stores." Freitas added that Murphy, with its string of bars and restaurants, mainly appeals to adults. "It doesn't really cater to teens," he said. Sunnyvale is not the only city government to get hip to the needs of its teenagers. According to the California Park and Recreation Society, the number of teen centers and coffeehouse programs has increased throughout the state by nearly 30 percent in the last five years. In response to growing numbers of well-publicized youth-related crime and violent incidents, cities have scrambled to create safe havens for their youth. "Teens have been on the front page a lot lately," said Kay Whitney, senior coordinator for arts and youth services in Sunnyvale. "I don't want to put a negative spin on it, but there have been a lot of social issues for teens." Whitney said changes in the traditional family dynamic, coupled with more discretionary money being accumulated by teenagers, have led some teens astray, forcing cities to deal with the issue head on. "We have to ask, 'What is influencing them, and are these influences positive?' " Whitney said. In Sunnyvale, where teen crime is relatively minimal compared to cities like San Jose and Palo Alto, emphasis on teen services is considered a bonus for the city's overall quality of life and is viewed as a proactive measure. Teen centers have twice been installed at the community center and San Miguel School. While those centers prospered initially, participation fell off once the teenagers who started the program graduated and left the area. "Sometimes we'll get a strong group of kids, and it becomes their teen center," Whitney said. "Then they graduate and move on, and there is no one to take ownership." One place that has remained popular for the past three years is the open gym at Columbia Neighborhood Center. Pace Green said during the school year, youths from middle school through high school take advantage of the gym. "On any average youth night, you'll find 20 to 30 kids out there," she said. Teen council president Go said she is hopeful the Fishbowl catches on like teen night at the gym has, but she also noted that she is realistic about the fickle nature of her peers. "We would love to have it busy all the time. But we're not expecting everybody will be like, 'Oh, come here,' We know the success won't be every weekend." The idea to re-evaluate teen services in Sunnyvale has been on the table for more than a year. After getting the green light from the council to conduct a study early in 1997, city officials held a public hearing in November last year. At the public hearing, teenagers, councilmembers and city staffers all clashed on what to do for the city's youth. Staff members were instructed to revisit the issue. In May, city officials once again changed the direction of the study to get a better handle on the issue and hired the outside consultant to conduct a survey of local teenagers. Now, Sunnyvale is among the first batch of cities to try out the coffee-shop format. "The House," a weekly teenage coffee shop, opened in Palo Alto in 1995, and San Mateo recently opened its version, called "Zappuccinos." Organizers are hoping that the Fishbowl can keep the city's teenagers inside the city, close to their home and out of trouble. "We wanted to draw teenagers back to Sunnyvale," Freitas said. "Back where they could have fun, so they wouldn't have to go out and find it." [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.