But the area is transforming, just as it did when the farmers arrived here and tilled the soil and planted the trees.

And the Sunnyvale City Council's decision to go ahead with Forum Development Group's downtown plan is part of the new reality. It took courage for the council to give the project a final thumbs up because it signals a true letting go of the old and an acceptance of the new.

The council could have delayed, asking for more study, hoping to get absolute assurance that their decision was right. There's the question of Murphy Street and the current small businesses there that will be deeply affected by two years of construction, all of which must be of concern to the council.

But there is no perfect plan and there are no absolute assurances, and downtown needs a major renovation and Forum's plan and experience looks very good.

Hopefully, Forum will do whatever is necessary to make sure Murphy Street is embraced as part of the whole of the project and not carelessly cut it off so that a lack of circulation kills it.

Now that the decision has been made, the council may experience what is commonly called—buyer's remorse.

Everyone who's bought a house knows this feeling. It takes over once the decision is made. Buyers worry that they won't be able to make the payments or that there was some other house somewhere that would have made better sense. What about this and what about that and on it goes. But the buyer finally moves in, and the worries seem to dissipate.

The city of Sunnyvale will benefit greatly for this decision. Once the project is complete, residents will be able to shop and enjoy entertainment in their own walkable downtown and the city will reap the financial benefits of additional retail and property taxes.

The journey for the next two years will be a tough to get through, but in the long run, it will be worth it, and the council should be able to look back and be glad for its decision. And yes there's a risk, but what major improvement anywhere hasn't been a risk.