For two summers now, the State Street Green has popped up in downtown Los Altos. Will it return again in the future? Stay tuned. For now, here is a brief history and description of the project.

In July and August 2013, a temporary pop-up park appeared on State Street in downtown Los Altos, as part of the City of Los Altos' First Street Streetscape Improvement Project construction work. Because the construction work shut down the intersection of First and State Streets for six weeks starting in mid July, State Street between First and Second Streets (outside Peet's Coffee) was entirely closed to cars and blockaded. Rather than allow that street section to languish, we saw an exciting opportunity to create a public gathering space downtown: The State Street Green!

The State Street Green featured Passerelle's block-long expanse of synthetic turf, lawn furniture, and umbrellas that were used for the City's 60th Anniversary Concert "Groovin' On The Green" in September 2012. The Green has become a hub of summertime activity, featuring activities such as local story-time readings, a mini skateboard park, large foam blocks for kids to play with, a magician show, a face-painter, a bubble man show, and more.

Then, in May 2014 the intersection of First and State Streets again had to be temporarily closed, this time for streetscape work in conjunction with Safeway's new store construction project. In a partnership between the City of Los Altos, Safeway, and Passerelle, the State Street Green returned for three weeks, again featuring a block of synthetic turf, lawn furniture, umbrellas, chalk-and-magnet planter walls for all to enjoy. This time the Green played host to several events, including a Shop the Green event promoting downtown retailers, a Concert on the Green by the City of Los Altos, and the inaugural Los Altos Summer Spin festival featuring the physics of skateboarding, spin classes, rollerskating, and many other spin-related activities organized by local businesses Skate Works and Helix.

On March 25, 2014 the Los Altos City Council approved the return of a Green this summer, this time on Third Street between Main and State Streets. For more please visit the Third Street Green page.