As Mountain View’s city manager nearly 40 years ago, Bruce Liedstrand faced some challenges along the city’s Castro Street corridor. The downtown was struggling, and there were worries it would lapse into a stretch of shuttered storefronts and ugly buildings. It just wasn’t the kind of place you wanted to spend time.
Some city officials saw the answer as redeveloping downtown into a car-friendly destination with wider roads and more parking. They looked to example of Sunnyvale, which had bulldozed its downtown to make way for a shopping mall.
Liedstrand, who died Friday, was among a handful of city leaders who pushed for the opposite vision: more public spaces, wider sidewalks and — unheard of at the time — a road diet. A frequent traveler to Europe, Liedstrand had wondered why California cities by comparison were so poorly designed and unappealing to walk through.
“He wanted to bring Castro from a street of thrift shops and clothing stores to an area with a lot of life,” said Susan Liedstrand, his wife. “He really believed in making the city dynamic for people,”
To hear many colleagues describe it, Mountain View’s celebrated downtown with its dining promenade is largely the result of Liedstrand’s vision and tenacity. Liedstrand died on Dec. 1 as the result of a stroke. He was 84 years old.
Liedstrand first came to Mountain View in 1973, taking a job as the city attorney. A few years later, he was promoted to city manager, a position that he kept for the next 12 years.
It was during that span that Liedstrand helped develop many of the city’s landmark sites, such as tShoreline Park and Amphitheatre and the concentration of office development along the north side of town. But it was his work to revitalize Castro Street that marked his tenure.
“He was really working in strong way with the council to point the city in a direction that was not obvious at the time,” said former Mountain View mayor Sally Lieber. “People were pushing for Mountain View to have a downtown mall; they wanted a J.C. Penny. Thank God that other ideas prevailed!”
Castro Street was then a four-lane stretch of shops, low-cost eateries and other mismatched buildings. Over the course of years, Liedstrand convened a series of community meetings to work on transforming downtown under a singular design. It was controversial, recalled Greg Tung, a colleague who worked on the downtown plan.
“This means you couldn’t have one-size-fits-all zoning, you had to encourage storefronts that create activity on the street,” Tung said. “At the time most suburban towns had completely oriented themselves for autos and freeways. It just wasn’t common to revitalize a downtown.”
The downtown precise plan that resulted from these efforts has held up remarkably well over the years. In fact, public sentiment has shifted the other way — just last week residents rallied before the council calling for updating the plan with an even greater focus on pedestrians and bicyclists.
Liedstrand left his job in Mountain View in 1988, but he took many of the same principles of urban design to other municipalities. He served for three years as city manager of Cathedral City in Riverside County. Returning to the Bay Area in 2001, he served as Redwood City’s community development director, and his family bought a house in Mountain View. His family also purchased a second home in Paris, where they took annual vacations.
Liedstrand retired in 2006, but he remained intensely involved in civic life. In recent years, he was an ardent supporter of the city’s ambitious North Bayshore plans, particularly the creation of a new neighborhood with housing and retail. Up until shortly before his death, he was still writing regular letters to the city and the Voice on Mountain View’s myriad developments and planning priorities.
“He loved Mountain View,” said Susan, his wife. “He thought this city has such tremendous potential with a good council, staff and engaged citizens.”
Born in Chicago in 1933, Liedstrand attended Stanford University and graduated from its school of law in 1956. After passing the bar exam he was drafted and served in the Army’s Judge Advocate General office in Germany. He married his first wife, Lois Peterson, in 1954. After his first marriage ended in 1981, he married Susan (nee Laird) in 1982.
Besides his wife Susan, Liedstrand is survived by his children John, Mark, Linda, Ann and Chelsea, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A service celebrating his life service will be held in January, according to his family.
Email Mark Noack at mnoack@mv-voice.com
