Illustration by Steven DeCinzo
Mixing It Up
City's winning recipe comes from finding just the right balance of ingredients
By Estelle Pagnoux
From the turn-of-the-century water tower overlooking downtown to its rows of neatly groomed apartment complexes, Campbell is a city of contrasts. No longer a sleepy bedroom community of San Jose, Campbell is emerging as a vibrant city and lively destination in its own right. But the arrival of a new Campbell does not come without challenges.
"It's important for cities to grow, but Campbell needs to maintain its small-town feel," says Kirk Heinrichs, Campbell's redevelopment manager. "It's a constant balance."
What kind of city will Campbell be?
During a time of rapid population growth throughout Santa Clara Valley, the Campbell City Council has continued to make decisions allowing new businesses to locate within its surrounding neighborhoods. It has managed to do this without detracting from the city's small-town feeling, which is particularly exemplified in its revitalized downtown. These land-use decisions have allowed the city to reap rewards from high customer-volume stores such as Whole Foods Market, Home Depot and Fry's Electronics. Annual sales tax revenues alone contribute 42.3 percent to the city's net operating revenue, making retail tax the single largest source of revenue for the city's general fund.
Many large businesses are located directly off Interstate 880, a major freeway artery. The Hamilton Avenue exit provides quick and easy access to popular bars and restaurants, bookstores, gourmet grocery stores, office supply outlets, coffee and bagel shops and one-of-a-kind boutiques.
Campbell Avenue is becoming a shopping destination for many in the South Bay. It boasts trendy hair salons, exclusive clothing boutiques, breakfast diners, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and upscale interior design stores. Every Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the downtown farmers market attracts an estimated 2,000 people. However, Campbell Avenue is not the only destination for shopping and entertainment. The Pruneyard, Hamilton Square, Kirkwood Plaza, San Tomas Plaza and Dell Avenue provide a variety of shopping and entertainment destinations within Campbell's city limits.
Incorporating and growing
As San Jose began claiming land in the 1950s, Campbell, like other neighboring cities, protected itself by incorporating as a city. Thanks to San Jose's aggressive annexation tactics, by the time Campbell incorporated in 1952, its borders were a little ragged. These days, it's not uncommon to slip into San Jose while ostensibly driving through Campbell.
Campbell's children may attend school in one of Campbell's school districts, but many of those schools are located outside the borders of the city. Of the six high schools in the Campbell Union High School District, only Westmont is actually located in Campbell--and just barely.
Campbell's original and centrally located Campbell High School shut its doors in 1980 and has served as a community center ever since. Here seniors participate in a wide range of activities, and other citizens take part in programs offered by the recreation department.
Campbell's population, once comprising mostly those of European ancestry, is beginning to look as diverse as the rest of the valley. According to the federal census, in 2000 the ethnic breakdown was 73 percent Caucasian, 14 percent Asian and 13 percent Hispanic/Latino in a population of more than 38,000 residents. The California Department of Education shows a growing Hispanic population attending school in Campbell. Nearly 31 percent of children in Campbell's elementary schools are listed as Hispanic/Latino.
File photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Growing and Preserving: Kirk Heinrichs is Campbell's redevelopment manger. His area of focus is downtown revitalization, which is funded by incremental taxes through the redevelopment district formed in 1983.
Location, Location, Location
A common theme emerges when talking to business owners, residents and city officials: Campbell is a great place to work and live, and it's due in large part to a strong sense of history and identity.
The city encompasses six square miles, and despite rapid growth and redevelopment, has maintained its commitment to quality and the charming characteristics that have been attracting people here for more than a century.
Mayor Jeanette Watson leads the party line when talking about Campbell's future growth.
"I don't want to see the character of Campbell change," Watson says. "I like that it's a small city and I hope that it can maintain that small-town image."
It seems that business owners are also drawn to that sense of old-fashioned charm. La Bamba hair salon has relocated three times in the last 25 years, all the while maintaining a downtown Campbell address.
"The recent addition of new shops and restaurants makes it a nice place for people to come and do some shopping," says Michele Rodriguez of the salon she owns with her husband, Carlos.
When the couple searched for the salon's most recent location at 52 E. Campbell Ave., they visited properties in Cupertino and Saratoga and ultimately settled again in downtown, a decision based primarily on the convenient access to highways.
"Carlos has clients that come to Campbell from all over the Bay Area and it's important that they can get to the salon easily," said Rodriguez of her husband's client list, which reaches as far as Napa Valley.
Downtown business owners are not alone in their appreciation of local highway access. Shop owners in the Pruneyard benefit from Highway 880 feeding customers from around the Bay Area, many of whom have never heard of Campbell but will do just about anything to plan their wedding at the bridal boutique Trudy's Brides. The popular first stop for the newly betrothed has been a destination for women since 1974.
"Our customers come from San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont and Union City, and many of them have never heard of Campbell or the Pruneyard," says Roger Blechman, owner of Trudy's Brides.
Trudy's doesn't depend on foot traffic. A fitting at the bridal haven requires a pre-scheduled appointment with one of Trudy's consultants. Once a dress has been chosen, the bride-to-be is expected to return to the shop for subsequent fittings before taking home her gown. Oftentimes brides-to-be return with family members.
"They almost always have to return for fittings, and they usually ask for recommendations on restaurants for lunch or dinner," Blechman says.
These visits allow time for more shopping and dining--families often make a day of the trip to Campbell. All of this means increased exposure to other Campbell businesses.
Business was not always as sweet for the bridal store. In the '70s and '80s, shopping malls such as Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino and Valley Fair presented real competition to Blechman's business. Trudy's also withstood years in a shopping mall that at one point seemed more like a ghost town. It was one of the only retail stores to maintain a client base while the shopping center renovated and recruited new tenants in the mid-'90s.
It's important to note that the Pruneyard came back in 1996 as a different kind of shopping center. A new street running through the center of the property allows for visibility of earlier hard-to-find shops. Although AMC Theatres struggled to find an audience in the back side of the center, and finally closed, the Camera Theaters, long a fixture in downtown San Jose and Los Gatos, will expand to the Pruneyard, opening seven screens in mid-July, offering a mix of mainstream, art and independent films.
Keeping downtown vital
No one can deny the charm of historic downtown Campbell. Its quaint retail stores, cozy coffee shops and inviting pubs have recently become an attraction. The farmers market has been feeding Campbell residents for five years and given the four-block stretch of Campbell Avenue increased exposure to visitors from surrounding areas.
Some believe that events such as the recent PruneFestival bring added business to downtown. Dana Smith, owner of Stone Griffin Gallery, attributes the recent purchase of an expensive piece of merchandise one day after the festival to exposure from the PruneFestival, and he expects at least 30 additional visits from people who stumbled across his shop as a result of the festival.
Even though unseasonable rain on the second day of the PruneFestival may have detoured some strollers, Marsha Smith, general manager of Mio Vicino and president of the Downtown Campbell Business Association, reaped the benefits of participants finding shelter from the storm. Many ducked in for lunch to wait out the showers.
Some upscale shops and hair salons are not always enough to attract the foot traffic needed by some specialty retail stores, however. Susy Carter, owner of Tarlow's at 68 E. Campbell Ave., was forced to relocate her boutique from the Town and Country Village shopping center when it was demolished. Her experience downtown has been pleasant but quieter than she had hoped.
"I wish we had more foot traffic," Carter says. "We started out well, but business has really slowed down." Carter hopes the warmer weather will bring more shoppers.
The consensus from the city's government is that Campbell's financial success is based on offering a diverse commercial market.
"Campbell hasn't put its eggs in one basket," Mayor Watson says.
Careful planning has resulted in a fresh face for Campbell, and the community has come alive.
It wasn't always that way, and it didn't happen by accident.
"Ten years ago, at 5 p.m. on any night you could shoot a cannon down Campbell Avenue and not hit anyone," says Heinrichs, the city's redevelopment manager. "When people thought about Campbell, they thought of the Pruneyard, not downtown. Now downtown's more active and livelier."
When the redevelopment agency was created in 1983, its task was to revitalize downtown and bring back an identity to Campbell. Heinrichs says the goal was to give Campbell residents the same kind of feel with their downtown that's been achieved in cities like Los Gatos and Palo Alto. He paints a picture of an area that provides diverse services to its residents and business owners--a healthy mix of uses, including retail shops, office space, restaurants and personal services.
Planner: Sharon Fierro, director of community development, is a key figure in the land-use decisions that are made in Campbell.
File photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
What the future holds
This growing city will soon be faced with the challenge of balancing four new light rail stations and incorporating the mass transit structures into its community.
The addition of light rail connections will reflect the character of their respective neighborhoods. For example, the Creekside station will reflect a high-tech design to complement the businesses it will serve. The downtown station will have more of a historic look and feel to match its surroundings.
Revitalization of Campbell is still underway. Word that San Tomas Plaza has been approved for redevelopment came as long-awaited good news to business owner Teresa Hovland. As the active partner in Kiddie World, at 150 N. San Tomas Aquino Road, Hovland has been patiently waiting for a facelift to the shopping center where she relocated in December 2000. The specialty store was once a staple on Stevens Creek Boulevard, and Hovland looked forward to bringing her business to Campbell because of its strong sense of community.
"It's a smaller community, but well-known," Hovland says.
Hovland has struggled through a sluggish economy but looks forward to the fresh look that she has seen in other Campbell shopping centers, most noticeably Kirkwood Plaza across the street.
You won't find many city officials attempting to predict the future for Campbell. Most seem to be holding onto cautious optimism based on the city's positive track record.
"Campbell does urban planning well," says Sharon Fierro, director of community development. "Where many cities saw their downtown areas destroyed in the 1970s, Campbell began preserving downtown."
"It's hard to predict the future," adds Fierro. "Two years ago, we were all talking about how people were going to be working a lot out of their homes and would need more services close to residential areas, such as copy centers." The city didn't rush to accommodate what looked then like a trend, and she says it still remains to be seen how viable a trend that will turn out to be.
Meanwhile, Campbell moves forward with the wisdom that comes from surviving tough times, and planners try to take good advantage of hindsight. They've employed a strategy of observing what's worked and what hasn't in other cities, and are using those observations as a guide.
Campbell, California
