Central District
Round 1 Workshop
Your Goals - Getting Specific
The Planning & Community Development Department hosted the first community workshop on the Central District Specific Plan on June 26, 2018. The goal of the workshop was to solicit input on the vision and desired land uses and urban form of the area.
Workshop Agenda and Materials
Participants were provided a brief introductory presentation on the Specific Plan Update program, the General Plan vision for the plan area, and background information. For the majority of the workshop, participants were divided into small groups with facilitated discussions on particular topics. The main objective of the workshop was to solicit feedback from the community, rather than reach consensus on any particular topic.
The following are workshop materials and event photographs.
- Icebreaker Activity: Participants mapped out where they live, work, and play, and wrote three words for the future of the plan area.
- Powerpoint Presentation: Provided an overview of the Our Pasadena program and specific plan background.
- Small Group Discussion & Report Back: Participants broke out into small groups and discussed specific topics. Each table reported back to the larger group with a summary of main points.
What We Heard
More than 100 community members attended the workshop and provided feedback on the future of Central District. The following represents major themes, organized by general geographic area, that emerged during the small group discussion and comments received.
- Preserve historic character, walkability, and vibrant mix of residential and commercial uses
- Emphasize local merchants
- Maintain iconic views of key community and architectural features
- Encourage residential development to activate the Memorial Park Station area to keep people visible and provide more eyes on the street
- Improve the sidewalk environment especially along major streets
- Desire for more safety improvements and amenities, such as services for bicyclists
- Preserve views of Castle Green for its architectural and historic character
- General concerns about higher density and associated traffic
- Preserve industrial land and areas for industrial uses
- Desire for wider sidewalks, more street seating, public art, and bigger setbacks to improve the character of sidewalks and streets
- Like the generous setbacks, green parkways, historic buildings, and the general character of buildings of this area
- Design new development to be harmonious with existing buildings
- Overall desire to slow down traffic, but keep the existing flow levels consistent and introduce sidewalk improvements in order to make it safer for pedestrians
- Desire for newer development that includes specialty shops, benches, trees, and paseos/plazas
- Walkability on southern portion of Lake Avenue is generally good, but overall streetscape improvements are desired
- Improve access for pedestrians and amenities for bicyclists to encourage more activity around the neighborhood.
- Improve connections from South Lake to the other areas of the Central District
- Encourage a mix of uses to encourage more street life
- General support for more density, as long as amenities like open space are provided and historic buildings are preserved and protected
- Improve mobility, particularly near the Lake Station