Downtown Vibrancy Plan Complete Streets Project

ABSTRACT

During the Great Recession in 2009, the City of Salinas began receiving requests from stakeholders concerned with the city's downtown to evaluate the area's circulation and parking. While the initial intent was to improve mobility and manage parking, the focus of the plan expanded through an extensive outreach process. Residents expressed a desire for downtown to become the heart of the city, and a place to gather for civic and community events. Through this process, the plan evolved to include four major themes Creating a Destination Downtown, Managing Parking Resources, Building the Heart of Salinas, and Stimulating Development Activity. The process, dubbed "The Road to Vibrancy," sought to construct a plan to capture and discuss aspirations, ideas, and concepts;develop and expand concepts jointly through workshops and meetings;debate and refine the Vibrancy Plan to ensure it was done right;and to gain broad-based support so that the plan can and will be implemented. The Vibrancy Plan was shaped heavily by public input through a robust planning process. In fact, nearly all the ideas and concepts presented in the plan were discovered through dialogue with residents, property owners, business owners, and others who shared their aspirations.