You may be aware of them from the annual Street Festival in the
summer or, more recently, the Lights On parade that officially
opens the holiday season as colorful floats and Santa and Mrs.
Claus move along San Benito Street.
You may be aware of them from the annual Street Festival in the summer or, more recently, the Lights On parade that officially opens the holiday season as colorful floats and Santa and Mrs. Claus move along San Benito Street.
The HDA is also responsible for the banners that line downtown streets, unifying the downtown area and providing visibility for the businesses that sponsor them.
But the HDA is much more that an organizer of festive events and bright promotion.
Its charter is to maintain a prosperous and thriving downtown business district, and the businesses and individuals who participate on its committees and board of directors have their work cut out for them.
I have been a member off and on since moving to Hollister, and was even on the board for awhile. For years, we grumbled about Caltrans having control of San Benito Street, since it was where Highway 25 passed through town. Caltrans’ control meant no crosswalks (because, they said, crosswalks would give pedestrians a false sense of security) and no new traffic lights.
As a result, it seemed that a lot of the ideas we had for revitalizing downtown weren’t feasible, at least not until the mythical-seeming “Highway 25 Bypass” came to be.
Fastforward nine or 10 years, and the bypass is actually happening. The HDA didn’t wait for it to be finished to jump at the opportunity to generate ideas for taking downtown Hollister up several notches as a place to shop, dine, work and live.
Working with a consultant, they conducted several on-foot surveys, noting participants likes and dislikes, and several community meetings to collect additional preferences and ideas.
The result is a draft Vision Plan, which I have had a look at.
The downtown association is looking to convene another public meeting sometime in February so all interested parties can have a look. One of the things I liked best is that the legacy buildings of downtown, many currently empty, are going to be revived and put to new retail or office use.
Of course, there are a lot of unanswered questions: Where will the new retailers come from? How will we attract customers?
But I have to say my confidence in the project was boosted when I noticed a long, narrow miniature park running diagonally through part of town. This space had been purposely set to be free of buildings, a welcome green space for strolling, sitting in the sun or eating lunch. And why this particular location?
Because it happens to be right on top of the fault line. As an almost witty safety precaution, the consultants have recommended not building anything at all in the space most likely to be knocked down. I like the way they think.
