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The title of this week's article could have been "... and they've been arguing about it ever since" or "that darned Irma Goldsmith" or "nobody asked me, but ..." Whatever your choice, it makes for a good story. What's the topic? The Los Altos Hills town pathways.
In July 1957, a Mrs. Goldsmith filed a proposal for a series of bridle paths that would meander through Los Altos Hills, along with a map depicting her vision as the town pathways chairwoman. This wasn't a new idea. The issue had been incorporated into the platform establishing the new town and, more obviously, someone had gone to the trouble of appointing Mrs. Goldsmith to her position as chairwoman.
It is interesting to review her words to the town:
"I envision a friendly footpath winding its way safely along or near our now dangerously busy, crowded country lanes. Children getting off the school bus will have been told by their mothers, 'You are safe on the path.' The purpose of the town path is to allow pedestrians and horsemen to go safely."
Although the town was less than two years old at the time, this and other zoning ordinances were already creating controversy. To a large degree, the fears of the Hills residents were brought on by new development in Los Altos proper where the citizens had approved quarter-acre residential zoning. Those in Los Altos Hills did not want to see their rural landscape covered in subdivisions with row after row of similar homes.
The result was that small groups of Hills citizens created numerous property owners associations, all of which tended to act independently and, consequently, most of which were generally ineffective. After a time, four of the homeowners groups created the United Foothills Property Owners Association. What kind of community did they envision? One where country living could be appreciated. Where residents could continue "rural pursuits" and maintain "the space and the right to keep ... rabbits, chickens, dogs, sheep, cattle and horses."
There was a lot of support for incorporation but still many were leery. Some of these opponents were certainly members of the Prank-of-the-Month Club. It's suspected that this loosely organized group masterminded the all-out poster campaign urging, through hundreds of posters, for a "no" vote. This campaign was well timed since it didn't provide much chance for organized rebuttal. Nevertheless, the vote "for" carried 412 to 351 (54 percent).
So now many want to modernize. Many others want to keep it as it has been for much of the past 42 years. People with new-found wealth have the desire to create a home as they like it; others have moved to the Hills specifically for its rural character. Some of our most fond memories are of the way things used to be.
Author: Aiko Hill - a member of the Los Altos History Association.
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