Innovative public out-reach has piqued curiosity and boosted public input for downtown plan updates in Laguna Beach, CA.
Building on successful Plan Van workshops in other cities while also highlighting Laguna’s downtown trolley service, the city offered Plan Trolley workshops.
The trolley, loaded with information about the Downtown Specific Plan including, display easels, and public-input materials such as surveys and comment cards, “would go to key events in the city where we would be able to reach out to community members that wouldn’t normally come to workshops at city hall. We wanted to make sure we touched on different locations, different times of day, days of the week, and different kinds of areas,” says Wendy Jung, senior planner for the city.
At each event, guests were given comment cards to fill out on site or take home and mail in later. And “temporary transitions” such as green space, bike lanes, and street music and food were added to highlight downtown’s potential for more vibrant streets.
The full article appeared in our print edition. To always get the full story, read Downtown Idea Exchange.