Petaluma Downtown Streetscape

Challenge

Create a simple, elegant and straightforward vocabulary of furnishings, plantings and pavements for the area, with the goals of enhancing commercial access and calming traffic while building on Petaluma’s historic architecture and agricultural heritage.

Solution

• Design and coordinate the manufacture of new contemporary furnishings to complement Petaluma’s Victorian architecture
• Add plantings in custom designed planter pots to unify the area and add depth and warmth to the streetscape
• Strategically locate trees, lights, signage and benches to meet the needs of merchants while ensuring accessibility and visibility
• Calm traffic through newly designed street layout and intersection design, incorporating principles of the Road Diet

Special Features

• Extensive community meetings with merchants and residents ensured support from all parties
• Street furnishings were manufactured by local high school students, which increased community involvement and ownership. Costs equaled or were less than off-the-shelf options and allowed the school to purchase new equipment for shop classes, which would have been otherwise forced to close. Program earned The Jack London Award for Educational Innovation.
• Local artists created decorative finials for sign posts and traffic bollards