Pedestrian-Friendly Development
Re “Pedestrian-Friendly Makes Sense,” Ventura County editorial, Dec. 12.
Longtime residents know that Thousand Oaks is not now, nor ever has been, a “pedestrian-friendly” community. The majority of residents drive to, purchase and then drive off to complete the other numerous items on their daily errand lists.
Case in point: The Westlake Hills Mall, built in the early 1980s on the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Westlake Boulevard, was designed as a pedestrian-friendly mall where people would park their cars and stroll through various corridors, stopping at the ice cream parlor, video arcade, gift stores, wine and cheese store and restaurants. It was a dismal failure! The bank had to foreclose and then spend millions of dollars redesigning the property into the “automobile-friendly” North Ranch Mall that sits there today.
I could only envision the Civic Arts Plaza section of Thousand Oaks Boulevard as a possible strolling area if given the right shopping, dining and entertainment business mixture.
GARY ANDERSON
Westlake Village
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