Opinion

I’m doing pretty good for a new year—I’ve only had to tear up a couple of checks because I was mentally stuck in the past. I think I’m ready for 2016 now and my check writing hand is following suit.2016 is the year the downtown will start to unfold and begin to show us what all of the dust, inconvenience and pain for some of the local businesses was all about; and it better be good.I know that several businesses have been impacted directly by all of the construction, but likely none more that Huntington Station on Third Street. They stand to reap the rewards of being right next to the new parking garage and the foot traffic it will bring; we just need to make sure they survive being right next to the construction zone. So let’s support this restaurant and all of our businesses downtown. They really need your patronage.Since so much of the conversation has focused on each individual aspect of work downtown, like the parking garage and completion schedule, I don’t think most of us are stepping back to imagine the bigger picture of how our downtown will look and function when everything is done.I am just now really starting to put a proper mental picture of the downtown together and I’m starting to get excited about it. What will it look like?On a walk down Monterey Road, you’ll notice that the median has a simple and clean look with native grasses and mulch. At the intersections, rustic looking fencing will define the public spaces—some might even sit a spell to take in the view of the downtown from this different perspective. Surely the “Dear Family” sculpture deserves some time tingling your optic nerves.Walking along the sidewalks you will now be able to sit at tree planter boxes, relaxing or socializing on built in benches. At night there will be a subtle glow coming from under the benches and the trees will help illuminate the sidewalks with their festive lighting. Unique lanterns hang from the trees in the median to add another dimension to this nighttime streetscape.I get to Third Street and I look toward the completed parking garage and see people gathered in the plaza right in front. Some will sit in public Adirondack chairs under the giant lantern supporting oak tree and others in front of the businesses that will front the parking garage, which I can only hope will complement the thriving scene at Huntington. There will be the unmistakable buzz of people happy to be out and enjoying themselves.I’ll miss the colorful pop-up park, but hope to enjoy a corner with yet another business that should thrive in our downtown.Looking up and down Monterey Road, it will look a lot like it has in the recent past, until you start to look at the details. And I think those details will make all the difference in the world in how we see and use our downtown.Please start spending more time enjoying our downtown right now.McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.