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Spring 2004
PLANS: City and Community Keep West Fresno Vision Alive  A
little over a year after hundreds of residents, local community
group representatives, elected leaders and government staff joined
together in a multi-day community planning process to create a
more walkable, safe and prosperous West Fresno, government and
community leaders are taking steps to keep the resulting vision
alive. Known as a “charrette,” the community planning event
was made possible through a Caltrans Environmental Justice Grant
supported and administered through the Council
of Fresno County Governments (COFCG). LGC and neighborhood-based nonprofit Fresno
West Coalition for Economic Development (FWCED) organized the charrette,
with renowned walkable communities expert Dan Burden leading the
process. Residents expressed their views and hopes in focus groups,
an opening community workshop and walking tours. Later they drew
their solutions on maps at design tables. The charrette team translated
their ideas into the “West Fresno Community Vision Plan,” which
emphasizes creation of mixed use village centers, pedestrian-oriented
streets and intersections, and public spaces that encourage people
to spend time in parks and other community areas.
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At the close of last year’s charrette, Fresno Mayor Alan
Autry and Councilmember Cynthia Sterling, whose district covers
West Fresno, vowed to ensure that the community’s vision leads
to changes that help revitalize the struggling neighborhoods. Since
then, the COFCG Policy Board, which is made up of Fresno County
mayors, voted to accept the Vision Plan and forwarded it to the
Fresno City Council for consideration. Councilmember Sterling and
FWCED Executive Director Keith Kelley took it from there, bringing
the plan before the Council in a May joint session with the Redevelopment
Agency. Lively discussion ensued with the Redevelopment Agency
Director, City Manager, Community Development Director, and other
Council Members speaking in support of the charrette process and
recommendations. The Council then referred it to the Public Works
Department, Planning and Development Department, and the Redevelopment
Agency for review, comment and appropriate implementation strategies,
and for staff to provide quarterly update reports to keep the Council
and community appraised of implementation progress.
The Council’s consideration of the plan is timely. It follows
recent Council approval of a $45 million bond to repair streets
and add sidewalks and other infrastructure in declining neighborhoods
and those that never had them. The West Fresno Community Vision
Plan can serve as a guide to direct funds in West Fresno and other
Fresno neighborhoods to create great public streets that feel safe,
encourage walking, build a sense of community and attract further
public and private investment throughout the area.
View the West Fresno Community
Vision Plan.
For more information, contact Keith Kelley of Fresno West Coalition
for Economic Development at: 559-485-1273. |
