Change and Progress

Apple Garage

Garages housing start-ups are part of the Silicon Valley mythos, and one of them is in Los Altos. It’s here that Steve Jobs, co‑founder of Apple Inc., grew up.

Los Altos is always seeking a careful balance: Enjoying prosperity through vital connections with the valley, the state, and the world beyond, while also preserving a haven for our family, friends, and neighbors.

Our dynamic city is home to many intensely talented people,  harnessing technology to advance how the whole world works, lives, plays, and connects. And our tranquil town is also a refuge of homes nestled in natural serenity, with established businesses and gathering areas where we gladly greet familiar faces.

Our community must balance these sometimes contradictory forces with thoughtful and determined agility. We can’t pretend online shopping hasn’t changed main street forever. And we also can’t stop fostering shared places that make our community vibrant.

We need to recognize that our city exists within a framework of state and federal laws. Sometimes we don’t like those mandates, but we need to seek changes at the appropriate levels of government. When we ignore legal realities and behave like a sovereign city-state, it only ends up costing all of us millions of dollars in fees and penalties.

Affordable housing is a particular challenge. All too often, discussions about housing turn into arguments about buildings: where should they be, what size should they be? But really our focus needs to be on people: where can our teachers, emergency responders, city staff, and essential workers live? These are not easy questions, but Los Altans are smart enough to take them on and make progress.