I was very disappointed to read in the Sunnyvale Sun about the negativity expressed over the proposed downtown Sunnyvale development. The potential benefits of improving this area of the city are many. Convenient, attractive shopping for local residents means keeping tax dollars in Sunnyvale. Eliminating the need to drive longer distances is also of interest, given rising gasoline prices and environmental concerns. The possibility of a local movie theater is exciting for the same reasons. Housing developments near retail areas is a model that has been shown to be beneficial in many communities.

There are also new buildings nearby that will provide additional office space.

"Santana Row is not what we desire" is true, but neither is it the only model. Understandably, residents closest to the development area have concerns about density, traffic and the value of their homes. However, having the empty, deteriorating shopping center close by is not adding value. The downtown residents have developed into a very vocal group, but should not be the only voices heard on the subject.

Susan Kay

Sunnyvale

Citizens should vote on
what happens to city

The Forum Development Group of Atlanta, Georgia, is, in the words of The Sunnyvale Quarterly Report (Spring 2004), "actively pursuing permits from the city to demolish the Town Center Mall and replace it with an open-air, mixed-use shopping district."

They are "actively pursuing permits" because the Sunnyvale Planning Commission and city council have determined to continue with plans to rebuild the area where the mall presently stands. So, they are "redeveloping" the "redevelopment of the 1970s," and without the approval by ballot of the citizens of Sunnyvale.

It is probable that only the developer will profit from this venture.

There is only one message, in our opinion, that both the planning commission and the city council need to have repeated, and that is that the citizens of Sunnyvale must decide by ballot what happens to their city.

This is a major undertaking that will involve large sums of money for a project with an uncertain future during a period of serious economic difficulty nationwide; and it will result in great public inconvenience during the construction phase.

If you have been puzzled and troubled by the Cherry Orchard project, lack of parking space near the shops, and the increased population density and traffic congestion, which in essence has given Sunnyvale a "New York-type project" with crowded conditions, loss of green space, privacy, and traffic entanglements, wait until the city planners have had an opportunity to realize fully their aims at turning the downtown center into a mini-Manhatten of high-rise structures with Hollywood-Spanish-style facades, and neighborhoods filled, one by one, with megastructures that will destroy the architectural unity of our present city and take from us the very features that attracted us to come here in the first place: sunlight, space, vegetation, privacy, and quiet.

Forum will hold another outreach meeting about its downtown project April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Historic Del Monte Building, 100 S. Murphy Ave., on the third floor. Our presence is important, for it could result in a delay in an action that may well be contrary to the interests of our community as a whole. We urge everyone to attend.

William Callahan
William Gaugler

Members of the Eichler Tract Architectural Committee

Group was opposed to the
plan's six-story buildings

Having attended the April 7 Sunnyvale Downtown meeting, I do need to make a correction to the Sunnyvale Sun's April 14 article, "Developers present the downtown plan to public."

The group present was not opposed to "three-story buildings." What was presented was Block 18 being encased by 65-foot buildings (or six stories).

I think most in attendance would have been very pleased with a three-story scenario. The Sun's reporter may not have heard because of the poor acoustics or the Forum Development Group may have presented pictures of its other developments—all but one were two and three stories in height. This is an important distinction. The current proposal is very high!

Secondly, Mr. DeCinzo's cartoon was insulting to the citizens in attendance. They were not uneducated, grizzly, ignorant people.

In fact, at the meeting interesting information was presented about the history of the current mall and reasons for its demise. Most of those attending experienced a "sad decision by a past council" regarding downtown development and just want it done better this time.

Most of those attending don't want an urban renewal, but a suburban renewal. Obviously, Mr. DeCinzo doesn't know us and, therefore, in the face of disagreement with the Sun's editorial staff, we citizens are the "stupid people."

What can be done? Well, just maybe we need to stop shopping at the merchants who advertise in the Sun. This paper just doesn't get it, doesn't know us, and doesn't respect us. Our only power—since there is no subscription to cancel—is to affect its advertising.

Sunnyvale citizens, try to attend the April 29 meeting to learn for yourself about the proposed downtown. But a word of caution: Attendance, per the Sun, makes you a member of the "Funnyvale citizens agin' tawl bildings."

Judy Dietrich

Sunnyvale

DeCinzo's cartoons do not represent the thinking of the Sun's editorial staff. He is a political satirist who is expressing his own ideas. That's what political cartoonists do. —Editor