June 16, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

News Digest

Utilizing the Internet and recruiting compatible businesses may be keys to creating a stronger retail sector in a city that has had trouble recovering from a dismal economy.

During a June 11 meeting on how the city can become more business friendly, 45 Palo Alto residents, merchants and consumers threw out a host of ideas during the brainstorming session hosted by Mayor Bern Beecham. Beecham created an Ad Hoc Retail Committee in March.

"We don't need another study," he said, adding that the committee would seek "salt of the earth, not rocket science solutions." The committee will take specific proposals to the City Council this fall.

Among the 15 areas the committee has identified as needing action or improvement, the most important were expediting the approval process for expansions or improvements to retail spaces, recruiting compatible businesses to complement the existing mix, developing and supporting local merchant associations, establishing a registry to track Palo Alto's businesses, and addressing the homeless problem, said Susan Arpan, economic development and redevelopment manager.

Other issues raised by committee or the public were the need to help Palo Alto small businesses use the Internet to counter competition from online and "big box" retailers, courting employee consumers who work on Sand Hill Road or similar commercial centers away from University Avenue, a downtown wi-fi network, and more consumer-friendly parking.

Despite recent economic problems in the Silicon Valley, Palo Alto's relative wealth and its ability to attract consumers from outside the city helped it outperform most communities in the state in terms of per capita retail sales. Cross Missakian
$1 million raised for high school science programs

The Palo Alto Foundation for Education has completed its High School Science Campaign, raising a combined $1 million for science programs at Gunn and Palo Alto high schools.

The funds will be used to purchase a wide range of equipment, from DNA models to pH sensors and digital probeware. Gunn invested in a GPS telescope for a new astronomy class and Paly purchased anatomical models and textbooks for a new course in kinesiology. The Foundation's fund for science was raised over 19 months through direct appeals, individual solicitations, events and auctions and represents about 3,500 gifts.

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