The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by George Sakkestad

A new night club goes up next to The Palace on Murphy Avenue.

Bars abound in city's revitalized downtown

By Steve Enders

Sunnyvale's revitalized downtown area, especially Murphy Avenue, has had a turbulent history--a cycle of successes followed by failures.

When businesses such as taverns and sex shops began drawing the attention of the city's riffraff in the 1960s and '70s, they also got the attention of the City Council. It vowed then to change the problem, and so began the renovation and revitalization process and the newer establishments we see today.

Downtown Sunnyvale is now enjoying some of its most prosperous times ever.

And the good times are about to get better, as is evident by ongoing construction on Murphy Avenue. Two new bars will be opening soon--a nightclub next to The Palace and the other across the street.

Four establishments along Murphy offer full bars, while about six others are restaurants or clubs that have bars or at least beer on tap.

But could the rowdy crowds come back, causing problems again for Sunnyvale?

Donna Eaton, general manager of The Palace, doesn't think so, and says that the city and the businesses on Murphy welcome all the competition and foot traffic.

"The more [businesses] the merrier, we say," Eaton says.

Restaurants and bars downtown often refer customers to competing businesses if one is overbooked, Eaton says, and they even go so far as to make reservations at other restaurants or clubs to make sure they get people into town.

"People know where Sunnyvale is now. The only complaint we ever hear of is the parking situation," she adds.

Eaton says that she and her customers feel safe downtown because of the presence of Sunnyvale's police.

"We've had very few problems," she adds.

Suzi Blackman, executive director of Sunnyvale's Chamber of Commerce, says that people have been pleased to see the positive changes downtown.

The people coming to downtown aren't the types who look for trouble, and no unusual problems have occurred since downtown got its facelift, she adds.

Sunnyvale Public Safety Capt. Steve Pigott says the downtown scene is safe, and he doesn't foresee problems returning to the downtown area. Besides, he says, it was never really that bad.

Two or three officers patrol the street on busy nights, according to Pigott.

"We've got a completely different group of people going down there now. It's much more high-class," he says.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 17, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.