News/Blog

April 10, 2023

Friday Night Music Series lineup announced

By Brittney Sherman

The popular Friday Night Music Series returns in 2023 with a mixture of crowd favorites and new faces. Local wine and craft beer are available for onsite purchase, as well as food from the Morgan Hill Kiwanis organization who donates 100% of their profits to local youth scholarships. Learn more about the efforts from local nonprofit organizations and meet business owners by visiting the display booths. This FREE family friendly community event takes place every Friday from 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m at the Downtown Morgan Hill Amphitheatre. It’s going to be a great summer in Morgan Hill!

Learn more HERE.

April 07, 2023

White Paper Report outlines top challenges and strategies for Downtown Districts

By Brittney Sherman

Downtowns and business districts play a pivotal role in the long-term health of a region and Economic Development Teams across Silicon Valley developed creative ways to keep these districts active during the pandemic.

In preparation for the Annual SVEDA Conference, data on the impacts, responses, and long-term effects of the pandemic on downtown districts was collected from (11) Silicon Valley cities. Unsurprisingly, there were common issues found across several downtowns, with the three most visible and difficult issues being vacant storefronts, public space management, and homelessness.

Cities want to create vibrant Downtowns but face challenges with code restrictions and resistance to new programs and street activations. Read the full White Paper Report HERE and flip through the slideshow to learn more about the top suggested strategies on ways to enliven Downtowns and business districts.

“Special thanks to John Lang, Economic Vitality Manager at the City of Mountain View and Kara Gross, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance for their collaboration on this research and thank you to the 18 participating cities that took part in the study.”

April 07, 2023

A mountain of a hike

By Brittney Sherman

Mount Sizer in Morgan Hill was listed as one of the top #8 most challenging hikes in the Bay Area. Although it’s not the highest peak, its elevation more than makes up for its vertical shortcomings. Start this 15-mile loop early because with frequent stops to catch your breath, the hike will most likely take the entire day to complete!

Read the full article in the 7X7 newsletter HERE.

April 06, 2023

4th quarter 2022 sales tax revenue takes a different turn

By Brittney Sherman

Morgan Hill has enjoyed positive sales tax revenue growth for ten straight quarters; however the 4th quarter 2022 results took a different turn.

When compared to 4th quarter 2021, sales tax revenue in Morgan Hill decreased 3%, while it increased 2.9% in Santa Clara County and 4.7% across the state overall. Morgan Hill’s change is largely attributed to a reduction in sales tax generation in the Business & Industry and Food & drug groups. Further attributing to the lack of growth was the Autos and Transportation group, which stayed flat for the first time since the boom in car sales ignited by the pandemic.

It’s not all doom and gloom. Sales tax revenue growth was seen in the General Consumer Goods, Fuel and Service Stations, and Restaurants and Hotels groups as a direct result of the continued shift back to brick n mortar shopping and in-office work. As it relates to the loses in the groups mentioned above, those are a direct result of both a misallocation and a one-time allocation skewing the 2021 numbers. For the first quarter of 2023, the City expects to see the return of positive sales tax growth.

Read the full report HERE.

March 30, 2023

Community Parklet and Alternative Activation Recording

By Brittney Sherman

Did you miss it?

A recording of the Community Parklet and Alternative Activation presentation can be watched HERE. To walk through the slides at your own pace, you can access the PowerPoint presentation HERE.

The Community Parklet and Alternative Activation will be presented to the Morgan Hill City Council during the Wednesday, April 5, regular meeting under Agenda Item #7. The staff report and corresponding attachments are available for review HERE.

Please submit all comments and feedback directly to Brittney.sherman@morganhill.ca.gov.