The City is exploring the possibility of creating a new downtown park and parking improvements on the existing Plaza 1, Plaza 2, and/or Plaza 3 to increase green space, support community gathering, and enhance the vibrancy of the downtown core while also providing replacement parking.

The City of Los Altos has hired Watry Design and MIG Inc. to lead the community engagement, seek feedback from the community, and develop concepts for a new downtown park.

‍ Downtown parks have been found to provide a significant benefit to the downtown and broader community through improved economic outputs from increased foot traffic, increased local business support, and raised property values; stronger social networks through an activation of public space and invigoration of community connection; and, higher public health outcomes from an increase in physical activity and mental well-being for residents and visitors of all ages.

‍ ‍Stanford University research on the Los Altos Downtown Green, a temporary pop-up park, discovered that park space within the downtown environment of Los Altos increased foot traffic and sales tax revenue while increasing community engagement through a new gathering space. The research was presented in a Journal of Urban Health article located here. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7392974/#Sec11)

‍ ‍The City is in the early stages of its community-responsive design process and is exploring preliminary concepts. Most recently, draft designs were presented to the City Council at the February 24, 2026, City Council meeting based on community visioning in summer 2025.  At that meeting, City Council directed the design team to not pursue underground parking and only pursue neutral or positive replacement parking options due to community feedback. Furthermore, City Council identified the Meadow and Garden as preferred themes.

‍ ‍The design team will conduct community engagement at a wide variety of events this summer to further seek community feedback on preferred location and design options.

‍ ‍After outreach, the team will return to City Council after summarizing public input that will inform the recommendations and next steps .

‍ ‍It will take a significant amount of time to develop bid-ready construction documents, which will also undergo review and approval before issuing any construction approvals. The current estimated timeline moving forward is a conservative 4+ years, with 2+ years of design planning and 2+ years of possible construction development.

No. These are preliminary concept design options that will need further refinement through Council feedback and community engagement, which will then be incorporated and reworked by design professionals from various design disciplines.

A construction timeline has not been determined as conceptual plans have yet to be presented.

City staff conducted an analysis of all the downtown parking plazas, and identified Plazas 1, 2, and 3 as the most suitable location for a downtown park. These plazas offer sufficient space to create a well-programmed and designed park while allowing access for emergency services and deliveries

The Central Plazas are too narrow in many places and do not provide enough usable space. They also do not support safe and efficient access for emergency services or deliveries.

The park will be funded using a variety of sources.

The City has collected a significant amount of Park in Lieu fees.  These are fees that developers pay during construction to support parks and recreation in lieu of building their own parks facilities. These fees either need to be used near the area where they were collected, or findings need to be made in order to use them elsewhere. In this case, Park in Lieu fees were collected from developments on First Street and the surrounding area, which establishes the park fees dedicated for that location.

The City has converted Park in Lieu fees to Park Impact Fees. Moving forward, there will not be a geographical consideration to how the fees are used. These funds cannot be used for other City needs, such as a new or expanded police facility.

The City will also apply for the California Statewide Park Grant, which would contribute funding towards the project. The City is exploring the possibility of this grant contributing funds towards plaza and parking elements located adjacent to the park space.

No. The park will not impact funding for public safety projects. The City Council still prioritizes new public safety facilities, and park funding comes from a separate source.

Businesses near the proposed park have been and will continue to be directly engaged throughout the project’s design and construction, to understand their specific needs and concerns. Their input will help shape the park design and minimize disruptions during construction.

The City is committed to minimizing disruptions for downtown businesses, residents, and visitors. As part of the project, the team will develop a construction staging plan to mitigate impact. The City is committed to mitigating impacts through temporary parking solutions and maintained access to business and public amenities during construction.

City Council directed the design team to only pursue neutral or positive replacement parking options due to community feedback. The project team will continue to explore options to replace as much parking as feasible.

At this time, City Council has directed City staff not to pursue underground parking as an option.

That’s up to the community! Through our various in-person engagement efforts last year, we heard from the community on their needs and desires for park programs and elements, both active and passive in character. The proposed park concepts are designed with these considerations in mind.

Lincoln Park and Village Park will remain in place. The proposed park would provide a new public space for the downtown core.

You can attend the City Council meeting on February 24, 2026 when the City Council will receive a presentation on the various design options. Additionally, you can visit losaltosdowntownpark.org which is the best place to receive the latest information.

‍Yes. The City hosted 48 community events and connected with over 1,000 community members at pop-up events, meetings, and workshops last summer.

This summer, the design team hopes to expand on that engagement effort through additional pop-up events, meetings, and workshops to identify preferred concepts from the community. Community members can stay in the loop of upcoming events by following our social media handles, subscribing to our biweekly City E-Newsletter, or visiting our event calendar.

No. City staff recommends taking these designs back out to the community for further discussion.

While there are no requirements for any specific features in the park design, all concepts are based upon a common set of park needs and desires as understood and distilled from the extensive community feedback we received.  Each park concept provides a unique perspective and programming on how the community’s needs could be approached and fulfilled.

Based on our 2024 Downtown Parking Strategy, the vehicle parking supply within Downtown Los Altos consists of 2,504 spaces, including 395 on-street spaces, 1,305 public off-street spaces.

The City remains committed to the enhancement of parking and the proactive maintenance of our downtown streetscape, aligning with state/federal design standards and targeted infrastructure improvements. Projects are designed in accordance with Caltrans, MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices), and the Federal Highway Administration.

Recent downtown improvements include:

• Installation of five new ADA‑compliant parking stalls on Main Street while maintaining the net number of available parking spaces

• Reconditioning of major corridors, including San Antonio Road, to extend pavement life and improve roadway performance

• Standardization of parking stall widths to 9 feet along Main and State Street, consistent with Caltrans design standards to improve accessibility

• Widening bicycle lanes from 3 feet to 5 feet to meet state and federal requirements and enhance safety for cyclists and pedestrians

• Installation of protected pedestrian walkways, including high‑visibility crosswalks and pedestrian paddles on Main Street, to improve pedestrian safety and visibility

• Refreshing of pavement markings throughout the downtown area to improve nighttime visibility and delineation, particularly in areas without less visible street lighting

• Installation of bicycle lane delineators on State and Main Street for traffic calming and safer right‑turn movement

• Collaboration with CalWater to upgrade the water mains and install new fire hydrants near the downtown parking plazas, enhancing utility management in Los Altos