BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Katie Causey, a member of the city’s Human Relations Commission who is running for Palo Alto City Council, says she wants to close University Avenue to cars again.
“I was really happy with what we had during the pandemic,” said Causey, one of nine candidates running for four open spots on council.
The city blocked off stretches of University Avenue, Ramona Street and California Avenue in June 2020 when public health orders prevented people from dining indoors.
Council voted to reopen University Avenue in October 2021, hoping to give struggling retail stores a boost before Christmas.
California Avenue and a block of Ramona Street were closed to cars permanently, helping out the restaurants that use the extra space.
Causey, 30, said she wants University Avenue to look more like a park, inspired by downtown Mountain View.
“I want it to look like Castro Street, where you have beautiful spaces, where you have tables for people to hang out, where you have room for restaurants to dine,” Causey said in an interview on Friday.
Causey wants Palo Alto to have more cultural events, like the “beautiful and incredible” celebrations in downtown Redwood City.
“That is where people are going on the weekends,” Causey said.
Specifically, Causey wants Palo Alto to put on its first-ever Pride celebration.
Causey grew up by Greer Park and said she still has friends in the neighborhood who feel distant and disconnected from the rest of Palo Alto.
Causey now lives downtown and said only two people in her building own a car.
“When I moved downtown, even though my rent is higher here, my cost of living dropped significantly because I don’t need a car. Everything I need is right here,” she said.
Causey is excited that the city could add housing on downtown parking lots, and she wants developers to convert offices to housing.
“I’m a really firm believer that developers are a tool, and we want them to do what we want. So it’s figuring out what are the incentives we can offer for (developers) to make that transition,” Causey said.
Yes, please close University Ave to cars. During covid, this commercial district was booming and lots of fun. Lots of businesses were thriving. Cars can be re-directed onto Lytton and Hamilton. People who want to drive to University Ave can still park in lots right around the corner.
Great idea, was just deciding where to go with a big group of coworkers and e we decided on cal ave because it was spacious and relaxing
University Ave is one of only 3 direct links to 101, serving tens od thousands daily road trips to Stanford, the hospitals, the Stanford Shopping Center as well as downtown.
Unlike Castro Street doesn’t provide direct links to major highways.
For 15+ years_ fire chiefs from PA and Menlo Park have warned that dense traffic has prevented them from reaching accidents on 101 in enough time to help victims.
And that’s no — before the Russian Oligarch’s Sunset Builder’s “Remedy” ar Willow — the very next 101 access road north of University — dumps thousands of new vehicle trips to the proposed hotel, school, new office jobs, new housing units as workers, hotel guests, shoppers, residents etc. s Sunset with a hotel.school.lots of new office jobs and new apartments adding a a few thousand mprr
Crescent Park — between University, 101 and Willow/Sunset — has been plagued with cut-through traffic. Google buses, lost Uber/Lyft drivers, traffic calming and lane reduction. They funded their own studies and met with PA Transportation re solutions.
They may have also involved Downtown North; I forget.
She might want an update on their recommendations.
Great idea to close University Ave again and add rollerblades arena, play-ground for kids and pianos for enthusiasts!
Providing public street space to restaurants should be structured with a lease agreement between the city and the business .. based on permissible square footage allowed for the additional space to be used by a restaurant or any business. The lease structure needs to adhere to market pricing , governance of using public spaces, and building permits adherence to building code in Palo Alto. Having a robust structure enables fair business practices, avoids the perception of bias or a perception of discrimination based on where you are located on the Avenue, increases walking spaces unlike Mountain View and helps all types of businesses (in addition to restaurants) to benefit from increased foot traffic.
“Causey, 30, said she wants University Avenue to look more like a park, inspired by downtown Mountain View.”
News Flash: Castro Street isn’t a direct link to 101 like University Ave is for tens o thousands of commuters to Stanford University and people trying to get to the hospitals and S6tanford Shopping Center and downtown.
“Causey, 30, said she wants University Avenue to look more like a park, inspired by downtown Mountain View.”
Specifically, Causey wants Palo Alto to put on its first-ever Pride celebration.”
So what’s stopping her from organixing parades and concerts NOW like PA resident Carol Garsten did with the Los Altos First Friday who saw the need to bring people downtown and just did it without city $$$$?
“Causey grew up by Greer Park and said she still has friends in the neighborhood who feel distant and disconnected from the rest of Palo Alto.
Causey now lives downtown and said only two people in her building own a car.
“When I moved downtown, even though my rent is higher here, my cost of living dropped significantly because I don’t need a car. Everything I need is right here,” she said.”
News Flash 11: City Council members are supposed to represent the entire city, not just people like them and their friends.
Close again University to cars – for the pedestrians to enjoy like in California Ave.
Last I saw, the vacancy rate on Castro was higher than the vacancy rate on University. Closing a street can really hurt businesses.
University carries about 12K cars/day. Lytton carries 11K and Hamilton carries 10K. Even if you were willing to spend the big bucks to rework the intersections at either edge of downtown, Lytton and Hamilton would be jammed. The resulting overflow onto the small streets in adjacent neighborhoods would be a major safety problem, not to mention the delays emergency vehicles would face.
There are good reasons why Council decided to reopen University, even though it was willing to close Cal Ave and Ramona.
(Speaking only for myself, not the Planning and Transportation Commission)