Long Beach, CA – The City of Long Beach invites residents as well as business and community representatives to participate in a series of visioning exercises to create a plan for the Downtown Shoreline area of Long Beach. Community members are invited to participate in the many activities taking place in the area June 13-20, 2024, and complete an online survey available now through June 24.

Led by the Community Development Department, the multi-day event, known as a Community Design Charrette, will engage local residents, youth, community stakeholders and design experts in generating and testing ideas and strategies to implement the community’s vision for the Downtown Shoreline. The area, which is south of Ocean Boulevard, is home to iconic residences, offices, hotels and restaurants amid venues such as Shoreline Village, The Pike, Long Beach Convention Center and Aquarium of the Pacific. Over the past year, community input has been gathered by City staff to inform these planning efforts.

The Charrette will be comprised of a range of events and activities designed for the public to participate in the next stage of the planning process through a series of exercises to envision and consider potential alternative futures for the Shoreline. Events taking place are listed below with additional details available here:

• Thursday, June 13, at 6 p.m., Aquarium of the Pacific (100 Aquarium Way)

The kickoff event will provide an overview of the planning efforts and slate of Charrette activities.

• Friday, June 14, Studio One Eleven (245 E. 3rd St.)

Small roundtable discussions will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on specific topics like environmental, economic and youth planning considerations.

• Saturday, June 15, Studio One Eleven and various locations around the Shoreline area

A day of community events starting at 9 a.m. with an “Everyone’s Shoreline” roundtable discussion on how to plan for the future of Downtown Shoreline to benefit everyone in Long Beach. In addition, walk and bike tours of the area will take place throughout the day. Also, community members will be invited to drop in for “open studio hours” throughout the afternoon and evening to speak with designers and planners about their ideas for the future of the Downtown Shoreline.

The feedback provided throughout these events will be analyzed and presented to the Planning Commission on Thursday, June 20 at a study session during the Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall.

In addition, over the past year, community input has been gathered and translated into Draft Guiding Principles (Principles) to guide the Downtown Shoreline visioning process. These vision and guiding principles will provide a framework for the Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan, and include broad, aspirational ideas for the shoreline’s future. The community is encouraged to participate in an online survey to review the Principles, identify priorities and provide feedback on any additional ideas to be considered when defining the future shoreline. The online survey is available in English, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog through Monday, June 24.

The Downtown Shoreline area serves as the threshold between Downtown Long Beach and the city’s waterfront and covers the coastal area south of Ocean Boulevard from Golden Shore Drive to Alamitos Avenue. However, the City’s land use plan for the shoreline area has not been updated since the 1970s. This reimagining and planning process aims to create a community vision and guidelines for creation of a world-class waterfront that will serve as a global destination. The Vision Plan will provide a foundation for a future update of the land use plan, which is expected to begin next year.

The public is encouraged to learn more about this initiative and its end goal of developing a new Shoreline Vision Plan by visiting longbeach.gov/dtshorelb.

The Shoreline Vision Plan and an in-progress companion update of the Downtown Plan are expected to go before the Planning Commission and City Council for consideration in early 2025. Those interested in receiving project notifications about those meetings can sign up online.

Media inquiries can be directed to Rick de la Torre, Community Information Officer, Long Beach Development Services Department, at 562.570.7174 or Rick.DeLaTorre@longbeach.gov.