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Dear Community Member,
The City of Oakland is excited to announce a relaunched and expanded process for developing a specific plan for downtown Oakland. The City began the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan process in fall of 2015 to create a vision and guiding policy to shape the downtown. The City then paused the process to hire a consulting team of local specialists in both social equity policy and community engagement to address the community’s concerns about racial disparities and displacement.
This Equity Team will supplement the work of the existing planning team by applying a social and racial equity lens to the process of developing a specific plan for downtown Oakland and deepening meaningful engagement of historically-underserved communities.
The expanded public process will include activities beginning this summer and continuing through the end of 2017, and will re-engage stakeholders and incorporate stakeholders from underrepresented communities. It has started with a series of activities targeted to leaders in communities of color and other communities whose voices are often not included in policy decisions.
Working Groups – Coming Soon!
The next phase is a series of working group meetings on four topic areas based on issues the community identified during the first phase of the specific plan process:
The next phase is a series of working group meetings on four topic areas based on issues the community identified during the first phase of the specific plan process:
- Housing, Affordability, Jobs, Training & Economic Opportunity Working Group
- Arts & Culture Working Group
- Streets, Connectivity & Built Environment Working Group
- Sustainability, Health, Safety, Recreation & Open Space Working Group
Community members interested in one of these topics are invited to join a working group. The first round of working group meetings will focus on social equity, the second on technical analysis, and the final round on implementation and prioritization. We encourage participants to commit to attending all three meetings for their working group topic.
If you would like to join one of the four working groups that will be meeting over the next several months, RSVP to the first meeting of that working group here to receive more details. The first round of meetings are the first week of August, from 5:30-8:00pm, at a downtown location near transit (specific location to be confirmed):
Social Equity Working Group Meetings
- Monday, July 31: Housing, Affordability, Jobs, Training & Economic Opportunity
- Tuesday, August 1: Arts & Culture
- Wednesday, August 2: Streets, Connectivity & Built Environment
- Thursday, August 3: Sustainability, Health, Safety, Recreation & Open Space
Other Opportunities
If these more intensive working groups are not for you, there will be other opportunities to participate in the planning process. There will be a series of neighborhood design meetings in October and public workshops in late 2017/early 2018 to help develop the draft plan. Stay tuned for more information!
If these more intensive working groups are not for you, there will be other opportunities to participate in the planning process. There will be a series of neighborhood design meetings in October and public workshops in late 2017/early 2018 to help develop the draft plan. Stay tuned for more information!
More InformationThe new EQTDTO (Equity in Downtown Oakland) outreach website for the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan is now live! Be sure to check it for more updates: https://www.eqtdto.com/
For plan documents and more information about the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, please visit the following link: http://www.oaklandnet.com/plandowntownoakland
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