10 responses to “B’lingame Can Be Even Better”

1. Jenn

   June 3, 2004

   Incredibly enlightening meeting this evening. I believe the full house illustrates that this type of discussion is long overdue! I only wish that Councilmen Galligan and Coffey had bothered to come; it is their loss.

   Thank you to Meg Monroe, Jane Gomery, Jim Nantell, as well as a couple of Planning Commissioners, all who were interested enough to attend. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope afterall for a new era of city planning in Burlingame.

2. Stephen

   June 3, 2004

   My favorite was Martin’s comment that if we design for parking we will end up with a LA type city. Let’s design for use, not parking.

3. Jack

   June 3, 2004

   Thank you also to Madam Mayor O’Mahony, Council members Nagel and Baylock for attending. My favorite part was the idea opposing that tired old mantra which is constantly spewed out in Burlingame that parking rules whatever happens or doesn’t happen in this town. Thank God for planners/architects who have a more creative, non-automobile vision. What a great meeting!

4. Terry

   June 3, 2004

   Last night’s program was exceptional! Congrats to everyone who put it together, and to Martin, John and Tom for their outstanding presentations.

   It was wonderful to see the great turnout and so many new faces. I spoke with one couple after the program who said that if we wanted to get started right away on doing a Specific Area Plan, they would be willing to chip in on the cost.

5. Cathy Baylock

   June 3, 2004

   I was very impressed by both the line-up of speakers as well as the content. As always, former Planning Commissioner Martin Dreiling demonstrates his visionary talents prodding us to all “think outside the box”. Burlingame has maintained its sense of place through the years by not marching lockstep with the rest of the Peninsula. From the first battles against widening and commercializing El Camino Real in the 1920’s (won thanks to the efforts of the Howard Avenue School PTA–today’s Washington School) to our continued fights to protect our neighborhoods and town’s historic integrity, Burlingame has not rolled over to appease the status quo. Thank you CBB for continuing to elevate the dialog in Burlingame and helping us plan for its prosperous future.

6. Russ Cohen

   June 4, 2004

   All three speakers had one thing in common. They are visionaries. It is refreshing. It is now up to our city leaders, staff and our community at large to value the idea of vision and blend it with pragmatism. Our town can not become a better place without civic engagement like we witnessed at this forum. As a member of CBB, I am proud that we have facilitated this town hall style forum and promise that there will be more of them in the near future.

7. Rosaline

   June 4, 2004

   Didn’t you love the idea that if our City would tell potential developers what our City expect of them, they will have to comply. Such as good quality building materials, good
   quality design, etc. Wasn’t it Safeway’s beef that our City did not give them enough guidelines. Companies will still come to Burlingame – even with stricter guidelines.

8. joe baylock

   June 6, 2004

   I’m all for the City giving good guidance on the finishing touches like materials, windows, signage and such. But the initial key is to get the Big Picture right in the first place.

   We don’t need the entrance to be on El Camino, we don’t need to cut down the heritage oak tree on Primrose or build a 200 ft. wall with a couple little shops inset, and we don’t need a bigger store with less parking. Forget the slanted telephone surveys and hire an architect that has some insight and creativity.

   Putting parking further down the list of priorities is valid for areas that are serving multiple smaller businesses. When you start talking about 50 space deficits (or more) for a single tenant then the Big Picture is messed up.

9. Mike Buettner

   June 14, 2004

   Congratulations Burlingame! We moved from Burlingame (after 20 years) to Eureka because we thought that all was doomed in our favorite town. It is so good to hear things like this happening. Good luck. Stay proactive.

   Mike

10. Dan Conway

    June 23, 2004

    Unfortunately I was out of town and couldn’t make it. I was wondering did anyone videotape the presentation?