Posted by Periwinkle, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 19, 2007 at 10:59 am

I say we turn Palo Alto into "Palo Alto University", raid Stanford ffor talent, and voila! - that's the end of our budget crisis..

Kidding aside, that's a pretty darned impressive accomplishment.

Posted by Peter, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Oct 19, 2007 at 7:24 pm

a more impressive accomplishment would be finding a place to blow $3 B-b-b-b-billion dollars.

Posted by Can Stanford Help Us?, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Oct 20, 2007 at 3:03 am

I think we should ask Stanford for some money to repair a few things around here.

It would make them look nicer if we looked nicer.

Maybe we can get them to contribute towards our city's beautification department.

Do we have a beautification department?

Just think. . . red and white flowers lining Embarcadero and University Avenue all year long!

Maybe they could re-pave the on and off ramps for Embarcadero - 101.

Some nicer trees and shrubs along those ramps and center green areas would be welcomed too.

Please remove those ridiculous dead redwoods and plant a grove of new young redwoods.

Anything is better than weeds, debris, and sick trees!

It is a disgrace!

First impressions mean a lot to parents and students checking out Stanford for the first time.

Maybe they could pay for a new sign that points which direction Stanford is on and off 101.

The funny thing about that is that it does not take a visiting genius too long to figure out the he went the wrong direction when he ends up at the dump. I wonder how many visitors to Stanford have ended up at our dump / duck pond.

Maybe we need a sign at the end of the road that says "Stanford Is The Other Direction".

And under that. . .

"Duck Pond / Baylands Center Turn Left"

"Renowned Recycling Center a.k.a. City Dump, Turn Right"

I'm just kidding - This an awful lot of money.

I think we need to ask our council member to start begging and stop building.

Stanford hospital employees can go and live Menlo Park - there are loads of apartments and homes over there.

Forget ABAG!

K-12 Education? Hello, Mr. Skelly and people at Churchill. Could you toss a rock over to Stanford with a note attached and ask them to throw some money back across El Camino. We could use as much money as possible to help us fund our desperately needed new facilities.

This kind of makes our PTA and PIE contributions look like spare change in a tip jar.

The worst Stanford could say is "No"

If they say "No", that is when we get serious and set up a toll booths at the off ramps for visitors headed to Stanford. Palo Alto residents would be exempt by showing their drivers license or displaying a special city logo sticker on their windshield (not to be confused with Stanford's Tree).

It took me 10 years to finally pay off my student loans to Stanford.

Now they continually hound me for money by calling and sending requests for money. This has been going on ever since I graduated. Being an alumnus basically ensures that you will be put on their mailing list until you die. If you move and do not pay your alumni dues, they still manage to find you.

And other Stanford alumni feel the same way?

The money and waste of paper that Stanford spends on solicitations for money from graduates is ridiculous!

I wonder if they will hound my kids for a donation after I'm gone.

Posted by Can Stanford Help Us?, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Oct 20, 2007 at 6:28 am

Just another thought. . .

If we continue to build this place up with high density housing, and the infrastructure collapses, along with the schools, people may decide to leave, and we may wind up having a neighborhood similar to the one surrounding USC!

Gasp!

It is true, the neighborhood which once surrounded USC was one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

There are still remnants of many large Victorian homes and gardens.

All of the wealthy residents left, as the quality of life declined.

Their faculty, and staff, commutes to and from the University from areas far away from the surrounding area.

Could Palo Alto become like this in the future?

You never know, but I hope you care.