Picture a dangerous intersection in your neighborhood. Neighbors unify, collect data, rally support—and still, that stop sign never appears unless the Mayor, City Council, and city management act. Only the city has the power and resources – they also must have the WILL

This is a carbon copy of the effort to return Santa Clara’s downtown.

A decade ago, five residents asked a simple question: Why doesn’t Santa Clara have the vibrant, walkable downtown it once had? After talking with thousands of citizens, people overwhelmingly wanted a dynamic downtown restored to its historic street grid.

Those five residents became Reclaiming Our Downtown (ROD). Today, ROD is 5000 members strong, powered entirely by unpaid volunteers who believe Santa Clara deserves a destination point. They didn’t simply hope for change, they studied it. ROD researched scores of cities, from Redwood City California to Winter Garden Florida, who all transformed blighted downtowns into thriving destinations.  In every case, the pattern was the same: their citizens spoke up, but City Government made the bold decisions that turned vision into reality.

Look at Malden, Massachusetts, where officials removed a 1950s City Hall that blocked downtown from the main train station, restored the street grid and revived the Downtown. Or Redwood City, where their mayor, council and city manager created Courthouse Square—a vibrant plaza with shops, entertainment, and underground parking. These city leaders were not bystanders; they acted because residents demanded their leadership.

Santa Clara citizens have done the groundwork. ROD’s interviews with these cities produced best practices: a Downtown Community Task Force, a volunteer-driven Precise Plan, and a Form-Based Code. And it worked. In December 2023, the City Council unanimously approved the Downtown Precise Plan. But that is where volunteer power ends—and where City leadership and specifically city management must take over.

Citizens can begin to negotiate land deals, but they must have strong city support to repurpose parcels and invest in the Downtown their citizens want. Citizens articulate community priorities; only City Management can act on them. And Santa Clara City Management is paid handsomely to do so– according to “Transparent California,” City Manager Grogan and his immediate staff earn over $2.5+ Million. Yet they have had very few if any meetings with Downtown’s landowners.  

Meanwhile, the unpaid volunteers of ROD and the Old Quad Residents Association (OQRA) have spoken with every major stakeholder. Most private ownership is within Franklin Mall, whose landowners largely prefer maintaining its current character—a position ROD and OQRA supports. The mall can coexist with revitalized downtown.

Across the six critical downtown blocks, five major players shape Downtown Santa Clara’s future: the City, Santa Clara University, the State of California, Prometheus, and Barry Swenson. All are open to the vision—but all are waiting to see how the city leadership develops the two blocks of the Downtown it owns. Those actions—or inactions—will determine whether others invest or retreat.

Reviving Downtown requires the same decisive leadership that once demolished it. Land sales, parcel repurpose, and coordinated investment cannot happen without City leadership leaning in. City management must stop being a bystander and start managing this effort.

For 60 years, Santa Clara officials have promised the return of a thriving downtown during election years. This is an election year: the next 10 months will show whether this council and Mayor will finally deliver. If not, voters must elect leaders who will hire city managers capable of making Santa Clara’s downtown a reality.

A City Hall had the power to tear down a downtown.
Only a City Hall has the power to bring it back.

Dan Ondrasek

Mary Grizzle

Co-Chairs/Reclaiming Our Downtown