Wildfires, a housing crisis, poor health indicators, electrical grid blackouts, and calls for increasing social justice and equality. That was the backdrop for passionate and thoughtful discussions about the future of Santa Rosa, a city in the middle of wine country, also known as the craft brew capital of the US.

A Community Advisory Committee acted as ambassadors to the community, while a Technical Advisory Committee focused on the nitty gritty.

Because multilingual community outreach began during the pandemic, much of it was online, including an interactive visual survey, a virtual studio set up in the City square, and a contest for youth to submit their favorite Santa Rosa sights via whatever media they chose. In-person community open houses and other live events allowed the team to gather community feedback on proposed alternatives.

The inclusive and dynamic engagement process ensured the 2050 General Plan Update was based on robust and genuine input from the community, private sector and city and City leaders, with large majority of the community agreeing on future Areas of Change and Mobility Enhancements—and fully 80% agreeing to limit future development in fire prone areas. Planning Commissioners and Councilmembers complimented the outreach, noting it was the best community engagement the City has ever done for a project.