The Greater Downtown area is in for a makeover, and the city wants residents to be part of the process.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the Redwood City Women’s Club will be hosting five speakers in a public discussion on how to build a better downtown by considering buildings, transportation networks, parks and businesses as one connected system.
The speakers include architects Poonam Narkar of WRT Design, Richard Roark of Olin Studio, Brian Milman of WRNS Studio and David Masenten of ELS Architecture & Urban Design, and transportation policy specialist Jessica Alba of OptiMobility Solutions.
The following week, on Thursday, Sept. 4, the City will lead a walking tour at Redwood Creek to explore how it will become a recreational site intended to support climate resilience and downtown development goals. A panel of stakeholders will lead a public presentation afterward to explain climate resilience strategies, partnerships and lessons from other communities.
Speakers for the climate panel will include urban designers Jim Stickley and Cristina Bejarano of WRT Design and Matthijs Bouw of One Architecture, as well as resilience strategists Meg Ackerson of Arup and Len Materman of OneShoreline.
According to Redwood City’s Community Development Department, the events are part of the Greater Downtown Area Plan, a years-long effort to update the vision for downtown, Centennial and Stambaugh-Heller. The plan, expected in 2027, will guide decisions about housing, public spaces, land use, transportation and climate adaptation. City officials said they want the process to include voices that are often left out of planning. To do that, they are working with groups like Nuestra Casa and its promotoras, who connect directly with Spanish-speaking residents, and offering multilingual resources to make participation easier.
The event on Aug. 27 will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 149 Clinton St., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Free parking is available one block away at the Sequoia High School lot on Brewster Avenue. Spanish translation, refreshments, and activities for children will be provided. You can register for the event online here.
The Sept. 4 event will start outside of the Sports Basement entrance at 202 Walnut St. at 4:30 p.m. and will involve a walk around Redwood Creek that will last until 5:30 p.m. The speaker panel will take place at the Sports Basement, 202 Walnut St., inside “The Grove” community space from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Register for the event online here.
