burlingame downtown specific area plan and what i did

Coming to the end of 2009, it's hard to believe that I first began working with the Burlingame Citizen's Advisory Committee over 2 years ago. We recently held an event for the community to share our work now that it's nearly complete.

The CAC is a group of ~10 appointed (selected?) Burlingame citizens interested in the future development of the Burlingame Avenue area. Although I've been interested in urban planning and development, I first started going to some community workshops when I moved to Burlingame, which is how I got involved with the CAC.

During the past 2 years, we worked with the Community Development Director, the hired consultants, and the Planning Commissioners to come up with what's known as a specific area plan for the Burlingame Avenue area. This is a document outlining things such as zoning, building height limitations, building uses, parking, even details about the sidewalks and streetscapes. The goal is to create a plan that will allow Burlingame to retain it's charm and be prepared for the future. (Plans like these are often only updated every 50-75 years, so thinking "big picture" and long-term are essential.)

In many ways, being on the CAC was similar to my job at Google. Except, instead of advising product managers on what features advertisers want (or don't want) I was helping to advise the city planners on what citizens want (or don't want) in regards to their town.

You can check out a well polished draft of our plan on the Burlingame.org site.

I also created this Google Earth / Google Sketchup fly-through animation for our final presentation to the community. I highlighted a few new ideas such as a better connection to Washington Park (arches & tress) since many visitors don't know it's there, a possible new location for our farmer's market, and an idea for a downtown open-space.