Top 10 Palo Alto New Year’s Resolutions You Will Want to Keep in 2022

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PaloAltoConnect

11 min readDec 30, 2021

Resolution ideas to keep you connecting, moving and more in the new year

The City of Palo Alto came up with 10 fun ways community members can reconnect, recharge, and refocus all in the spirit of having fun and doing more in 2022 that give you joy! From things to do with the family in town to volunteering, this new blog offers several new year’s resolutions to keep in 2022. Read on to learn more and share your new year’s resolutions on social media with #PaloAltoTogether2022.

PLAY MORE

Doing something fun with your friends and family is a great way to boost your mood and strengthen your relationships. Check out the City Calendar for events. Here are a few more ideas to get you started!

Have your own themed family storytimes for children with the Palo Alto City Library’s Read Together Storytime Kits.

Get custom-made reading recommendations for all ages from the Library by signing up for their Shelf Made program.

Attend virtual storytimes at the Library from home.

Play more at the new Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ), it’s a must! It reopened Nov. 12 after a complete rebuild and redesign of our facility and visitor experience. At 15,085 total square feet, the new footprint is nearly double that of the old, with much needed visitor amenities, fully accessible exhibits, and additional program space. With expanded hours beginning Dec. 21, 2021, the new JMZ is now open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. Feed the flamingoes, peer at the meerkats through a new kid tunnel, interact with the gear machine and ball machine. This new fully accessible museum and zoo is a great way to play with your kids while providing a great opportunity for them to learn about nature.

The Palo Alto Art Center’s Creative Attention exhibition features work in a wide range of media that showcase alternatives to our chaotic world of stress and anxiety, through practices of mending, healing, restoration, belonging, sustainability, and resiliency. Friday Night at the Art Center is Friday, January 28 from 6–8 p.m. Celebrate the Creative Attention exhibition in a fun and festive atmosphere, with hands-on art activities and more!

Palo Alto Children’s Theatre, now in its 90th season, serves more than 57,000 community members each year with theatrical productions and programs for youth ages 3 through high school. Auditions for next year’s shows are taking place Jan. 7, 2022.

Treat yourself and family to a Foothills Nature Preserve Annual Pass. Purchasing the pass gives you annual access to the 1,400-acre paradise where hiking, fishing, picnicking, and camping abounds.

Ready to hit the courts and fields? Palo Alto offers many sports classes and lessons for all ages. Play soccer, tennis, pickleball and more. Learn all about available sports and fitness programs here.

Looking for an art-focused teen leadership opportunity during the school year? The Palo Alto Art Center is looking for high-school aged teens to join our group of youth, Art Center Teen (ACT) Leadership.

LEARN MORE

Explore and learn key professional and digital skills with the Palo Alto City Library’s Upskill 2022 learning platforms.

Learn more about Palo Alto history and read about local history from local authors in the Library’s Community Collections page. See all the enriching programs and events for all ages offered by the Library through January and February.

Looking for some new books to read, but not sure where to start? Thankfully Palo Alto Library curated reading lists for the community based on age, interest, and genre. Find the Best Business Books of 2021, or the Cool as a Cucumber cookbook list; want to go to Spy School — this list is just for you! Check out all the Library Staff Picks here.

Feeling creative? There is still time to register for an art class for children or adults at the Art Center. Visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/enjoy to learn more!

Join a family workshop this winter! Our family mosaic workshop and family knitting workshop bring families together with art! Visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/enjoy to learn more!

In Music Together, an innovative teacher guides six children and their caregivers in singing songs of many cultures, dancing and playing basic instruments to support music development. Classes take place in the Lucie Stern Fireside Room (Tuesdays 9:30 am, 10:30am or 4pm or Wednesdays 9:30am or 10:30 am).

The Little Explorer Preschool Program for Parents and Toddlers takes place at Peers Park Field House (either M/W, Tu/Th or Fridays at 9:30am)

The Palo Alto Art Center offers a Fine Art Program just for teens! Help your teen develop art skills, promote their creative expression, and build confidence — all of this in a fun and supportive environment. Teen art classes in drawing, painting, ceramics, digital photography, and mixed-media are available all school year-long.

MOVE MORE

From adult fitness classes and hiking our beautify trails to riding on the new bike bridge, there are many ways to get moving and fitter in 2022!

The City has over 40 miles of hiking trails in its Nature Preserves. Our partner organizations, Grassroots Ecology and Environmental Volunteers will be leading guided nature hikes in 2022. Stay tuned for more information. Your neighborhood parks also offer a place for outdoor activity such as walking, pickleball, tennis and other activities.

Check out the new Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge, which opened in November 2021. It stretches about 1,400 feet in length from the West Bayshore Road landing to the East Bayshore Road landing, connecting the community year-round to the Baylands Nature Reserve and all the amenities on the east. Choose biking and walking more around town to support your health and the health of the environment.

Find other options here:

Mindful Yoga and Meditation, Lucie Stern Ballroom (Mondays at 4pm)

Beginning Line Dancing, Lucie Stern Ballroom or virtual (Tuesdays at 10:15 am)

Tai-Chi, virtual (Thursdays at 6pm)

BOOST! drop in Cardio Dance, Lucie Stern Ballroom (Tues, Wed, Thurs. at 9am)

FOCUS ON WELLNESS & WELLBEING

We can all be well, stay safe, and connect with one another in 2022! Find resources to support your well-being, reduce stress and anxiety, and have fun while we emerge to the “new normal.”

Watch this series of events launched focused on building community wellness and wellbeing! Wellness Wednesdays Event Series kicked off on March 17 with an Introduction to Mindfulness for Adults with Chief Robert Jonsen and ran through in June. Watch wellness events on our YouTube Channel.

For a list of other wellness and wellbeing options to further your goals, go here.

EAT BETTER

From cooking classes to dining local and seasonal recipes, there are many opportunities to eat better in 2022.

· Winter Cooking with Junior Chef Stars class, Lucie Stern Community Room (Tues 3:30pm)

· Check out the latest Uplift Local dining promotions.

· The California Avenue Farmer’s Market, which takes place on Sundays, start up again on Jan. 2, 2022.

· Learn how to reduce food waste here.

· There are fun recipes each week in the City’s Uplift Local newsletter. Subscribe here.

GET INVOLVED, VOLUNTEER, & DONATE

If you want to make an impact in our community, there are many ways to get involved, volunteer or donate. Just pick your passion! Here are a few ideas to help get you started.

One of the biggest ways to make an impact is to get involved on one of the City of Palo Alto’s Boards and Commissions. Board Members and Commissioners volunteer their time and expertise to review items. The items are then reviewed by the City Council for decisions that can have a major impact on the community. Applications are currently being accepted for the Architectural Review Board, due Jan. 31, 2022. You can also participate in City Council meetings. The first meeting next year takes place Jan. 3, 2022.

There are plenty of opportunities for teens as well. Whether you’re looking for service hours, building a resume or simply to volunteer with friends, the Art Center’s Teen Volunteer Program has a variety of opportunities. Become a teen Counselor-in-Training, be an assistant in children’s fine art classroom, prep behind-the-scenes art and more. Check out Teen Service Opportunities here.

You can volunteer with the Office of Emergency Service’s Emergency Services Volunteers (ESV) program. Which provides supplemental resources to the professional first responders who work for the three Palo Alto public safety departments. ESVs facilitate means for neighbors to help neighbors and promote preparedness efforts before a disaster to make our neighborhoods more resilient. Learn more here.

Find out how to support our Palo Alto City Library by shopping from, joining, or donating to the Friends of the Palo Alto Library. Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) members also get a 5% discount when they shop local at Books, Inc.

Learn more about the Library’s reopening plans and how to support our community libraries.

Volunteer in Open Space information can be found here and at our partner organizations sites. Grassroots Ecology and Environmental Volunteers have plenty of volunteer opportunities for those who love nature and working with the public.

Friends of the JMZ is a non-profit organization that works to support the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ).

Friends of the Palo Alto Parks works with the city of Palo Alto, private groups, other nonprofits, and citizen organizations to preserve, maintain, and beautify our parks and open spaces.

Friends of the Children’s Theatre helps financially support the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre by providing advocacy, volunteers, and funds for equipment and educational programs not included in the city budget.

Through fundraising and advocacy, the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation helps expand the reach and impact of the Art Center, to provide quality arts programs that inspire the artist in everyone and serve more than 150,000 people annually!

For other ways to get involved, go here.

SHOP LOCAL

Shopping local supports local businesses and helps lower your carbon footprint. The City partnered with many local businesses to amplify the merrymaking with fun promotions with the City’s 30 Days of Holiday Cheer Promotion. Find unique gifts, savor specials on holiday food and drink and take advantage of fitness offers if getting in shape is on your New Year’s Resolution list! Shopping local is a wonderful way to celebrate and support our community as we continue our recovery from the pandemic. Here are some of the promotions going on through the holiday season and into the new year.

BE MORE SUSTAINABLE

It’s more important than ever to do your part for a sustainable community and planet. Here are some ways to get involved at home or with the City. The City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Ad Hoc Committee helps guide the development, implementation, communication, and future community engagement of the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP). Other ways to get involved at home include taking the pledge to be idle free, incorporate zero waste into your life, get an electric vehicle, conserve water, cleaner energy and much more. Sign up for the City’s sustainability newsletters here and check out some recent climate action blog posts.

BE MORE PREPARED

With natural disasters constantly on the news, it reminds us we always need to be prepared for things like fires, earthquakes and more. Planning and preparing for this eventuality may save your life, minimize property damage, and reduce economic loss. The City’s Emergency Preparedness page is a wonderful resource to get your home and family ready for everything from fires and earthquakes to floods, hazardous waste spills and more. Check out our recent earthquake preparedness blog post here and sign up for the MyShake early warning app in the Apple and Google Play stores. The City shares tips on fire prevention and fire safety on an ongoing basis. See our most recent blog posts on this topic here, and here.

Prepare for rainy weather events by obtaining sandbags from Rinconada Park (near the tennis courts), Mitchell Park, and the Palo Alto Airport. Check the Creek Monitor & Camera for an up-to-date status on Palo Alto’s creeks. For more on sandbag stations, go here.

One way to conserve valuable water resources and prepare for rain is by installing Green Stormwater Infrastructure such as rain barrels, cisterns, rain gardens, and pervious pavement to capture rain runoff from these hard surfaces. The City recently launched a pilot rain barrel program to encourage residents and businesses to purchase high-quality 50-gallon rain barrels that help conserve water and reduce water pollution. This is one way you can conserve water during rainy times.

Not sure where to start? Learn about making an emergency plan and building an emergency preparedness kit.

BE MORE SAFE

Throughout the pandemic, there’s been much focus on health safety, and rightly so. But it’s important to remember we should also focus on staying safe with mental health support and crime prevention tips. The City of Palo Alto, along with its many partners, has taken an active role in organizing Project Safety Net, a multidisciplinary group of individuals and agencies to develop an effective teen suicide prevention plan focused on education, prevention and intervention. This plan forms an integrated system of strategies that together provide a “safety net” for youth and teens.

Although Palo Alto is an exceptionally safe city, crime still happens here. Here are some tips from the City of Palo Alto Police Department you can use year-round to stay safe when shopping. The Police Department also offers a variety of ways to stop crime and stay safe, from personal safety and home/vehicle safety to child safety.

Stay in the know and sign up to receive alerts from Palo Alto Police via Nixle. Palo Alto also uses AlertSCC to communicate during unforeseen events or emergencies such as natural disasters, crime bulletins, power outages, and more. We strongly urge residents, businesses, and those who commute to Palo Alto to register. Sign up for AlertSCC.