There's a well-known French saying: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose." In English that roughly translates to: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Los Gatos has been through plenty of changes. What was once home to Native Americans of the Ohlone tribe became a settler's paradise. There have been agrarian, industrial, retail, technological and plenty of other types of businesses.

Today, the town is not growing physically, as it is land-locked by other cities. Nor is it going to grow in population, which has understandably hovered just below 30,000 for several years—if there is no room to expand, there is no room for new residents.

So what does the future hold for the town? It may not grow much physically, but will the next decade or two bring drastic changes?

"I see the Los Gatos of 2015 or 2025 looking very much like the Los Gatos of today," says Los Gatos Town Councilman Joe Pirzynski. "What we're really looking at is maintaining stability."

Pirzynski's comment highlights an important view shared by many residents, merchants and other community members: that Los Gatos doesn't need to change. The small-town look and feel to which they are accustomed is something they would like to preserve.

So to adapt the French saying, the more some aspects of Los Gatos change, the more important it will be for others to stay the same. It must evolve to accommodate the new lifestyles of those who live, work and become otherwise involved in Los Gatos, while maintaining the charm and sense of community that make it unique.

Infrastructure

The most visible changes in any city or town are obviously the physical ones. Especially since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Los Gatos has spent much of its recent history rebuilding and improving existing structures. Much of that reconstruction work is now complete or near completion, so the focus is now shifting to maintenance.

"We've worked very hard over the last 10 years to polish the gem of our downtown," Community Development Director Bud Lortz says.

That "polishing" included the creation of a redevelopment agency after the quake. The agency allowed, and continues to allow, the town to rebuild damaged structures, resurface crumbling streets and sidewalks and complete the Town Plaza Park. The town's Streetscape project—including sidewalk and street repair along N. Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street—is currently scheduled to be completed within the next two or three years, although recent developments may postpone some of that work. Still, it will likely be completed in the next 10 years. With that out of the way, it will remain vital for the town to preserve it.

"As soon as we get past this big Santa Cruz and Main Street project, it's just going to be the icing on the cake down there," Pirzynski says. "Obviously we've got a lot of work to do ... but I think we're getting very close to where we need to be."

The town's government offices may see a bit of a facelift, too. Leaders will soon draft a new master plan for the civic center and library structures that have stood at 110 E. Main St. since April 1966.

"There's been an interest in improving the library," Town Manager Debra Figone says. "We have facilities that need to be improved to better serve the public and also to serve our employees. So that civic center and library plan is a very important piece to complete, in order to determine not only what the town will do, but how it will do it."

Pirzynski says that probably will not mean that an entirely new government facility will be built, but that it will be expanded and reorganized in order to maximize its effectiveness.

"Potentially, we have the chance to revisit how we use our public space," he says. The project will involve "taking what we've got, using the best, enhancing that and making additions."

Development

Though there is not room to expand, there are a few major projects under way and the potential for several more on the horizon. A Sobrato Development Companies project on Winchester Boulevard will bring several hundred new residents in 2005. The town will continue its efforts to annex unincorporated Santa Clara County "pockets" of homes into the town, aided by new legislation that could streamline the process. And though no plans exist for either site, the "North 40" property off of Los Gatos Boulevard and some agricultural land near Oka Road remain the only significant undeveloped areas in town.

The town will soon be considering changes to its draft North 40 Specific Plan, which provides regulations for any future development at the site. The town also regularly updates its General Plan and other specific plans and area guidelines. Those plans and guidelines are meant to ensure consistency and quality in zoning, land use, architecture and other considerations.

With the downtown generally in good shape, Los Gatos Boulevard may become the next commercial area targeted for significant enhancement.

"Certainly, we're going to continue to look carefully at the planning of new development projects," Lortz says. "That's how we work very hard to protect our community character."

Transportation

With new and refurbished roads in place, the ground beneath vehicles may be improved, but challenges in transportation and parking will remain unless changes are made to address them. One project slated for implementation soon could be just such a solution.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority told the town council recently that it will be introducing shuttle-style buses along two new routes in Los Gatos this summer. Those smaller buses, traveling on more centralized routes, could promote increased use of public transit in a community with traditionally low ridership. Town leaders say it will be most effective if it is operated for free.

"Ten years from now, there'll be Los Gatos community buses going around town making life a little more easier, more convenient," Mayor Mike Wasserman says. They may also make "the streets appear less congested because of the smaller-scale bus."

"It's real intimidating now to get on one of those buses in front of the civic center," Councilwoman Diane McNutt says. "I think it's going to feel so much more comfortable and accessible."

The buses could change the culture of car-dependent Los Gatans, who could take the shuttle from the northern part of town into downtown—or vice versa—without having to worry about finding a parking spot or staying too long in a time-restricted space.

In addition, they will connect most of the town to the light-rail station soon to open in Campbell. Los Gatos could also see its own light-rail stop at the end of that line.

Education

Not just town buildings and downtown structures have been overhauled—several Los Gatos schools have had recent facelifts, with only a couple more to go. When current work at Los Gatos High School and upcoming improvements to Daves Avenue Elementary and Blossom Hill Elementary schools are completed, the educational institutions in town will also begin what will hopefully be a period of maintenance.

Mary Ann Park, superintendent of the Los Gatos Union School District, says school renovation and addition projects were made to not simply to improve aesthetics, but also to meet the changing educational needs of future generations of students.

"Hopefully, we've been forward-thinking enough so that we've designed these schools [to] maximize the educational experience," she says. "These buildings will last and serve the next 50 years of students."

More important than the walls around them, though, will be the instruction and experiences that students receive during their developing years. Giving children a broad, general knowledge base, evaluating their progress effectively and making sure they develop the social skills needed to function in society are all goals at the top of Park's list.

"The kinds of things that are happening in the world will certainly shape the careers that students are involved with when they graduate," she says. "It will change the way they approach problems, and there will be more complex problems that they face."

Technology

Whether in education or daily life, technology continues to advance at a near-dizzying pace. Town surveys show that most Los Gatans are technologically savvy. Both convenience and financial factors will no doubt increase the reliance on technology, especially where communication is concerned.

"As a public agency, we have and will continue to maximize the use of technology to the extent that we can invest in it," Figone says. The town currently uses its website and an email notification list to distribute community news where possible. "Especially as we have been forced through tight fiscal times, we do ask ourselves how we might use technology to increase our own productivity."

Pirzynski says there may be more abilities to implement wireless Internet access throughout the town, as currently exists in the Town Plaza.

Park says schools will not only need to use new technology in its instruction, it will also have to adapt to teaching students who are immersed in that technology.

"With the miniaturization of chips and those kinds of things, we can carry a small computer with us," she says. "How will that change how we talk to each other, how we think?"

Finance

Though distributing more emails and fewer papers may cut a few dollars here and there, significant fiscal challenges will face businesses and government in Los Gatos. The recent economic slump occasionally shows signs of improving, but there's no telling what the future holds where money is concerned. The only thing to do is be prepared.

For businesses, that means using the close community atmosphere to their advantage, says Dan Doore, board president of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce.

"Imagine a clothing store clerk telling a customer that she saw the perfect shoe to go with that dress, just two doors up," he says in an email to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. "Outstanding customer service is huge to a small-town feel."

If businesses do well, the town government will in turn have a steady reliable stream of tax revenue. Continual cutbacks and takeaways from the state government have made sales tax an increasingly important source of funding for town programs.

More than just identifying revenue streams, though, Los Gatos leaders need to monitor how money is spent, Figone says.

"In the next few years and foreseeable future, we are going to continually have to evaluate our service-delivery systems," she says. "We're going to have to ensure that our government is as efficient and productive as possible in meeting the needs of the public."

Right now, that has meant modest but visible cuts throughout all departmental budgets. More cuts could be made, and the town's economic uncertainty reserves are bolstered every year in case of a fiscal emergency. Both Figone and Lortz said the town is well prepared for such an emergency and its management stays alert and flexible for that reason.

"We remain a fairly fiscally conservative organization," Lortz said. "We are very, very conscientious and careful about how we spend the public's money."

Collaboration

A number of recent projects have demonstrated that community members understand the financial hardships faced by Los Gatos and is willing to step in to fund what the city can't. The community swimming pool at Los Gatos High School, for example, was funded by both community donations and town contributions.

Such collaboration is expected to play an increasingly important part in meeting community needs and desires.

"Whenever a new need comes up, a group of individuals gets together," Wasserman says. "This is such a close-knit community, so generous and so concerned about whatever needs arise, people will step forward and address those needs."

Doore says businesses also need to collaborate.

"It is imperative for merchants to work together in cooperative marketing efforts—advertising, sidewalk sales, special events, etc.," he writes. "Many merchants are too small to do events on their own and don't have enough budget for advertising to make any impact at all. Working together and capitalizing on group exposure will be key to [their] success."

Small town, big issues

Figone says there is an inherent challenge in maintaining a small town amidst constant progress.

"It's hard work, because there's the technical side to how you do that, there is then the customer service side where there's actually desire for less process ... and it really takes strong commitment to civic engagement and participation," Figone says. "The thing that's been so wonderful about Los Gatos is all three of those components have always been at play."

The last of those, however, may prove to be the most important aspect. With an involved public, the changes that do take place will be carefully vetted and closely monitored.

"I do hope they get engaged in the conversation and understand that they can help make [things] happen," McNutt says. "We have so much going for us that we need to take advantage of that and do our best to plan for the future."

While the face of Los Gatos may change, either with the wrinkles of time or an occasional facelift, its heart is what will keep it alive.