A “downtown” for T.O. almost happened.

I came across my stack of material regarding the “citywide forum,” which had started in 1969.

There were subsequent meetings, which I attended, in 1979, ’81,’83 and ’87.

As you can imagine, there were many ideas expressed about what course should be taken for the new city.

At the 1983 meeting, several put forth the idea of turning Thousand Oaks Boulevard into an oldfashioned downtown.

The street would have been widened to allow for constant transportation, à la Santa Barbara.

Where The Lakes is now would have been eating places but also other needs: a grocery store, post office, a small hotel, a theater, medical offices, etc.

And my favorite idea: across the street, atop the existing small businesses would have been two stories of affordable apartments for the elderly or needy.

As it is, we have massive shopping centers but no old-fashioned but practical “center of town.”

And there was never any mention of any high-rise buildings on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
Elinor Gustafson
Thousand Oaks