Revitalization of Downtown Santa Rosa

By Susan Gorin

CityVision sprang up because our community understood the importance of our downtown. It is time we embrace the recommendations of CityVision, adopt the necessary policies, and seek out the resources to create a vibrant downtown.

Many of those same elements have been carefully blended to create CityVision's blueprint for a downtown in which we live, work, learn and play.

Reunified Courthouse Square would create the "heart" of the downtown - a space that blends nature with concrete and invites you to linger and relax. It would also be the focus of town gatherings and cultural activities, such as art exhibits, plays, and musical events, without the noise and disruption of traffic cutting through the square.

Tree-lined streets with wider sidewalks are proposed for strolling, browsing in shops and eating at sidewalk cafes.

A mix of higher-density residential, commercial and retail uses, along with parking, is proposed in the core area. All of the buildings would contain pedestrian-friendly uses at ground level. Space is limited in our City. It makes sense to build up to provide a larger base of people to sustain the economic activity of restaurants and shops.

A study is being completed that would offer suggestions for linking the downtown area with Railroad Square - perhaps opening up the Santa Rosa Plaza so that pedestrian, cyclists and a tolley could easily move through the Plaza. The Third Street underpass recently received a new mural, and brighter lighting is proposed to make it feel more inviting for pedestrians and cyclists.

Construction will soon begin on the Blackman Conference Center to bring more guests to Santa Rosa. Hopefully, they will be able to stroll or bicycle along our restored Santa Rosa Creek, which has begun construction.

A Food & Wine Center, along with parking, housing and offices has been proposed for the site of the cannery in Railroad Square. Fundraising has just begun for that project.

A parking study is just being completed for the downtown area, which would offer suggestions for additional parking facilities.

Linkages to the downtown are proposed via a future passenger train at the depot in Railroad Square, expanded bus service at the transit mall, and bicycle linkages along the railroad right-of-way. The update of the Bicycle Master Plan considers additional bicycle lanes to and through the downtown area. Opportunities to invite pedestrian activity and improve safety run throughout CityVision's strategies.

CityVision's blueprint has been created, and now the City must incorporate the recommendations in its new general plan, clearly define expectations for new development downtown, create new zoning and use conditions, and work with the private sector to begin to develop proposals for the downtown.