What could you do to make Palo Alto a better place to live? That’s the question posed on February 19 to a group of about 70 Palo Altans by Peter Kageyama, the author of “For the Love of Cities,” a book that explores how regular citizens around the country are engaging hearts and minds to improve the places where they live.
Sponsored by the City of Palo Alto at Mitchell Park Community Center, Peter’s interactive session produced lively conversation about what people love about Palo Alto and how they can ensure the city continues to thrive as it tackles growth, change and development.
Peter challenged the group to consider what they could do with just $500 to create community engagement and excitement about Palo Alto, drawing on the notion that, as he says in the book, “in tending to see the city at large, we discount the impact that thousands of tiny acts have in the overall vitality of a community.”
Palo Altans shared ideas and conversation about why they love their city
Peter is also a big believer in fun, and encouraged the participants to think of activities that would increase joy and connection among Palo Altans. To spark ideas, he showed a video of an effort to spread love in Taiwan that was started by one resident’s affection for the city.
encouraged the participants to think of activities that would increase joy and connection among Palo Altans. To spark ideas, he showed a video of an effort to spread love in Taiwan that was started by one resident’s affection for the city.
And because talk is cheap, Palo Alto’s City Manager Jim Keene offered to fund the two top proposals at $500 each, promising to follow up with the groups who proposed the winning ideas to help put them into action.
The activity solicited a range of creative thoughts, including painting stencils with positive messages on the routes to Paly and Gunn, facilitating a tree scavenger hunt, building nesting boxes for birds and creating portable ‘parklets,’ but the top two proposals (determined by a vote by participants) were a program to reward people for telling jokes in person 
or via twitter (#jokepaloalto) and an idea to take Perry the Bol Park donkey around Palo Alto to spread happiness.
Palo Alto Mayor Karen Holman was one of the participants in the Love of Palo Alto event and closed the afternoon by
Palo Alto Mayor Karen Holman chats with author Peter Kageyama
saying that Peter had “opened a box of creativity,” and encouraged people to continue focusing on small acts to increase connection. “It’s great for people in Palo Alto to think about possibilities,” Mayor Holman said afterwards. “This kind of expansive thinking is helpful as we move towards engagement with the Comprehensive Plan.”
City Manager Jim Keene was equally enthusiastic about the event. “People are skeptical about whether ordinary citizens can make a difference, but Peter shared so many examples of creative ways-both big and small- to express love for cities,” he said. “As we think about Palo Alto’s future, it’s important to focus on the fun stuff and how we can enjoy each other along the way.”
Participants created tshirts that reflect what makes Palo Alto unique.
Peter Kageyama, who works with cities around the world, was impressed by the spirit of collaboration among the group at Mitchell Park. “This is a fantastic city with unique challenges,” he said. “It’s already a ‘nine’ but when engaged people who
Palo Alto Chief Communications Officer Claudia Keith and former mayor Nancy Shepherd
love Palo Alto work together, it could become a ‘ten.'”
To share your ideas about why you love Palo Alto, tweet to #lovepaloalto.
Posters created by groups brainstorming ideas for how to spread joy in Palo Alto
