22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY march 9-15, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Streets & Roads King City’s downtown is small, but a destination packed with goods and services and downtown energy. Along Broadway—a wide, two-lane street—five blocks, from First Street to San Lorenzo, feel like a one-stop district with restaurants, coffee shops, Mi Pueblo (a Mexican grocery store), banks, the public library and a Hartnell College campus, all within walking distance. Broadway was King City’s first street back in 1886 when the railroad arrived in the area. At that time, King City became a waypoint between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Broadway became the heart of the city. Then in 1912, Broadway became Highway 101, with a gas station on almost on every corner. Local historian Karen Jernigan says that’s when what had been a thriving downtown started to die. “A lot of the businesses started going downhill and got kind of dilapidated,” Jernigan says. It was a trend that continued for decades, even after a new bridge was constructed over the Salinas River and the highway rerouted out of the heart of downtown in 1968. More recently, things have changed. “There was just a big turnaround,” Jernigan says. She describes a domino effect of building repairs and renovations, starting with the El Camino Hotel and bank building, which is now home to the restaurant California Gourmet Pizza. “Buildings are our treasures, and alive,” Jernigan says. New continued to appear alongside the old. In 2015, the Cork & Plough opened as a culinary destination and a place to hang out; next door, King City Cinemas survived a pandemic closure; across the street, Pozzi’s Stampede remains a classic watering hole, and long-standing staples like tacos at La Potranca remain busy. Mother and daughter duo Kelly Green and Sierra Stamps opened Hestia Cafe, a popular coffee shop, in 2021. Stamps says downtown’s history, including buildings, is an asset. (The coffee shop is inside the former Vendome Hotel.) Given the surge in online shopping for goods, Green thinks bringing more eateries to downtown is a boon. She adds that highlighting nearby attractions, such as Pinnacles National Park or South County wineries, is a way to attract more visitors. King City’s Hartnell campus, expanded in 2021, is now home to between 200 and 300 students on Second Street, less than a block away from Broadway. Over the past five years, little by little, the face of a neglected downtown has transformed. Dilapidated old buildings became a vibrant corridor with restored historical buildings that are home to new businesses. That is thanks in part to investments from private property owners and business owners, but also a vision from the city. “A downtown is a huge part of the identity of a community,” says Steve Adams, who became King City’s city manager in 2015. “We want downtown to be something that attracts people from outside of the community to support local business.” So the city began investing heavily in the small downtown. Adams says they had to get creative to fund improvement projects, doing it in small increments. They started by installing decorative streetlights and planters. The city also offers a facade enhancement grant program and outdoor dining grants. The city invested $500,000 in downtown in phase one, and $4.5 million is budgeted for phase two. King City in Bloom, a volunteer-based beautification and preservation nonprofit launched in 2016, does cleaning and enhancements projects. In downtown so far, the group has funded three murals. For over 50 years, Broadway Avenue was part of Highway 101. Once the highway was rerouted, the fast-moving road slowly transformed back into a street. Bump-outs and stop signs are designed to slow traffic, and pedestrians move about. There are three upcoming projects for downtown. One is building a plaza at the corner of Broadway and Vanderhurst with a stage and playgrounds, space for gatherings and wind sculptures. The plaza is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Second, the old King City Rustler building, next to the plaza project, will become a visitor and historic center. Lastly are efforts to improve the streetscape, specifically pedestrian and bicycle friendliness—planting more trees, installing more benches and adding bike racks. Jernigan says it’s evident Broadway was a highway in the past. It is still a wide street with vestiges of former gas stations, but it has evolved into something completely different. “It just feels like downtown,” she says. And like any thriving downtown, business owners sense opportunity. While King City is known for its Mexican food, residents are asking for more diversity. During the city’s biannual priority survey, residents ranked their desire for an Italian restaurant high. Currently, the owners of Luigi’s and Pastability’s are testing demand in King City by bringing their catering truck (called R Truck) to town three afternoons a week, from Thursday to Saturday. Off Road Once a railroad stop, King City’s downtown blooms again on the former Highway 101. By Celia Jiménez Above, King City added diagonal street parking and will expand sidewalk bump-outs. Below, Karen Jernigan welcomes outdoor dining. El Sinaloense will offer outdoor seating in the future, joining Hestia Cafe and La Plaza Bakery. “There was just a big turnaround.” Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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