Stanislaus County Blueprint Seeks Community Input at Local Workshops
Help Decide the Future of Stanislaus County!
The population of Stanislaus County is projected to grow by 60% by 2030, and by over 685,000 new people by 2050. Such dramatic growth raises major questions: Where and how should we grow? Where will the roads go? How do we want this growth to affect our economy, agriculture, education, transportation, housing, air quality – in short, the quality of life for our children, our grandchildren, and ourselves?
The time for action is now! You and your neighbors have an unprecedented opportunity to help shape Stanislaus County’s future at six upcoming community workshops:
Modesto North/Riverbank/Salida
Tuesday, March 20, 5:30-7:30 pm (5:00 pm registration)
Salida Library
4835 Sisk Road, Salida
Turlock/Hughson/Denair
Tuesday, April 3, 6:30-8:30 pm
Turlock City Council Chambers
156 South Broadway Avenue, Turlock
Patterson/Newman/Grayson/Westley/Crows Landing
Wednesday, April 4, 6:30-8:30 pm
Patterson City Council Chambers
1 Plaza, Patterson
Modesto South
Thursday, April 5, 6:30-8:30 pm
Harvest Hall, Stanislaus Agricultural Center
3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto (corner of Service & Crows Landing Roads)
Oakdale/Riverbank/Waterford/Hickman/Knights Ferry
Tuesday, April 10, 6:30-8:30 pm
Oakdale Community Center
110 2nd Street, Oakdale (corner of 2nd & F)
Ceres/Hughson/Empire/Keyes
Thursday, April 12, 6:30-8:30 pm
Ceres City Council Chambers
2210 Magnolia Street, Ceres
The workshops will be fun and very participatory, including a “card game” and other hands-on activities. Light refreshments will be available, and registration begins at 6:00 pm (except on March 20th). These workshops are part of the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Planning Process, which will help develop a vision to guide the Valley’s growth over the next 50 years, beginning with input from community members like you.
Stanislaus is one of eight San Joaquin Valley counties sharing a $2.5 million grant to conduct this type of planning. The Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG) and other counties are organizing this public process to help residents develop a vision for future growth leading to a higher quality of life than if we wait!
In this first round of community workshops, participants will have a chance to identify the most important values and goals for the future of their community and the County as a whole. In a second round, to be held later in 2007, participants will evaluate various alternative future growth scenarios, based on the feedback from the first round of workshops, to determine a preferred scenario for future growth. The results will be made available and incorporated into a final San Joaquin Valley Blueprint, which will help guide local elected officials and other decision-makers on what community residents want to see in the future.
We invite people across the community to participate in any of the upcoming workshops. It is important that residents of all income levels, ages, languages, and physical abilities are represented. We will accommodate those with special physical, transportation, or language needs with an advance request. We especially encourage young people to attend -- after all, they are the ones who will be living in our vision for the future!
Advance registration is strongly encouraged. To register for any of the community workshops, please visit www.stancog.org or contact Lark Downs, StanCOG Senior Planner, at 209-558-4841, or larkdowns@stancog.org.
