Yountville Development Flyer

During a research request on Yountville during its Incorporation period in the 1960s, this flyer was uncovered. There is no date, but it appears to be from the 1980s or 1990s at the latest, and there is no known publisher or printer. It was produced by a community organization, possibly even the City itself. At the time the flyer was made, Yountville was trying to decide what sort of town it wanted to be, and how best to affect that change. Their cornerstones are:

“We want to preserve Yountville’s unique character – its rural pace, its close connection with nature and the natural beauty of its setting.

 

We want Yountville to be a place for people first; and traffic, buildings and business second.

 

And we want to be able to afford to live here.

 

At the same time – we recognize that Yountville will have to grow. There is much outside demand for new homes and businesses, and a large portion of our town is not yet built upon.

 

We believe that Yountville can absorb this growth and even benefit from it – provided it is done in a way that harmonizes with the goals set out above.

 

We look to you to show us how to accomplish this.

 

We want to be a community, not a suburb.”

The brochure examines the street layout, emphasizing increasing bicycle usage and rejecting “a Trancas or a Jefferson Street. Two lanes, one each way, is about the limit for Yountville.” It also looks at ways to develop the commercial and residential districts while protecting parkland, vineyards, and rural space. The writers insist that the “‘old’ part of town will be a key factor in preserving Yountville’s unique qualities…We recognize that many of the structures are ‘run down’ by other communities standards and don’t meet County codes, but they are unique and they give Yountville a great deal of its rural charm.”

Take a look at the full document, and also check out our online catalogue to see what else we have on Yountville (hint: it’s a lot!).