Hi Mark,

This experience of being a member of the “North Vallco Steering Committee” has been very enlightening. I also found your summary very concise.

It is clear to me that the character of Cupertino is centered around our nationally ranked schools. This is what drives the city’s rapid influx of young families. However it is equally evident that the city’s schools are struggling to keeping up with this growth and the city's coffers need to be filled.

I feel Cupertino needs to be more than just about schools. The city cannot just depend upon revenues from residents or we are doomed to high density housing and overcrowded schools. Cupertino must become more diversified. I feel that we must make the city attractive to outside visitors and residents with convenient shopping and businesses.

Stevens Creek is a perfect place to locate a continuous strip of shops, office buildings, hotels, and restaurants with a public transit corridor branching out to other parts of the city and beyond, to bring in visitors and needed revenues. Such a transit system could be free (paid by local businesses) along the main corridor leading to strategically located parking areas to reduce trafict congestion. Long narrow tree lined parks with eating/meeting areas could be located along the center of Stevens Creek Blvd. and the street routed around both sides of these parks and lined with businesses making this a truly people oriented public corridor. This could support an efficient public transit system that would also serve residents and reduce auto congestion. Long term plans such as this are what the city needs rather than isolated sites such as North Vallco.

Golden Gate park and the down town area of San Jose were once visions but look at how they have turned out. Why not a big vision for the future of Cupertino? This also suggests solutions to the heated topics of high density housing and overcrowded schools.

Frank Geefay

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