The former City Manager of Mountain View explains how a city once known as a second-class dormitory community turned its downtown area into a lively, successful, and loved place.
Bruce Liedstrand explains "What we did right and wrong, and what we learned from it" when it came to redeveloping Mountain View:
"Mountain View started off wrong. The planners did the usual thing. They hired a consultant to prepare a wonderful plan and presented the plan to the community. A disaster – the community rebelled. So, we learned from that and started with the community. We put together a group we called the Downtown Task Force and we worked together to understand our downtown and what needed to be done to make it a great place."
Thanks to Dan Zack
FULL STORY: How Mountain View Revived its Downtown

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

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