Downtown Malling Continues To Haunt Some Cities

The Silicon Valley cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale are alike in many ways. But their downtowns offer a study in contrasts because of land use decisions made 30 years ago.

1 minute read

June 29, 2007, 8:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

Like many suburbs in the 1970s, Sunnyvale approved and subsidized development of a mall as a way of "saving" downtown. It didn't work out that way in the in the long-run, as the mall itself blocked downtown progress.

While Sunnyvale was building a mall, though, neighboring Mountain View was laying the groundwork for what is now a thriving suburban downtown. Was it all foresight and good land use planning by Mountain View city leaders, or was there some luck involved?

Thanks to Paul Shigley

FULL STORY: Sunnyvale, Mountain View Provide Different Downtown Stories

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 in California Planning & Development Report

Land Use California

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