Overall Results

Over 1,000 people attended the first phase of the General Plan Town Hall Forums. Participants in each neighborhood area shared their views of what the future should be like in their neighbhorhood and in the entire City. Each forum was a chance for participants to interact with their neighbors and business owners and identify how they could make a Sacramento the most livable city in America. For a summary of the Town Hall Forum results, click here. The results from each meeting are listed below.

Each Town Hall Forum involved the following:

Registration: At each of the Town Hall Forums, members of the public were asked to identify on a map where they lived and where they worked in Sacramento. They were then assigned to a table with a mix of people with a range of different interests. Each table included six to eight people and a wealth of great ideas.

Welcome:  The Mayor, along with Council Members for each area, began the meeting by welcoming the attendees and encouraging them to think about Sacramento's future given expected population growth over the next 25 years. City staff also introduced members of the City's General Plan Advisory Committee, who were critical to the success of the City's outreach efforts for each of the Town Hall Forums.

Presentation: City staff, in conjunction with the General Plan consultant team, explained the purpose of a General Plan as well as the City's Smart Growth Principles. They also identified some of the challenges and opportunities that we face in the future. The biggest challenge confronting the attendees was finding a way to make Sacramento an even better place to live given that the city is expected to grow by 200,000 people and 150,000 jobs over the next 25 years. Town Hall Forum Phase I Presentation

Issues Survey: Everyone has particular issues or topics that they are interested in, particularly when it comes to the future of our City and our neighborhoods and commercial areas. In the first exercise, participants were given an issues list that focused on many of the critical issues facing the City. The major categories included: land use, development, community character, safety, housing, transportation/traffic, parks and open space, and the environment, among others. Out of all those choices, participants had to identify the top five that they thought were the most critical to address. Staff compiled the results of these issues on large summary charts (see photo).

Neighborhood Exercise: The "scheming and dreaming" began as small groups of participants at each table received a large aerial photo of their neighborhood where, using markers, they identified places they liked, those they didn't, and places that should change or develop in the future. In addition, they also identified what makes a great neighborhood.

Citywide Exercise: Next, participants focused on the City. Pouring over a large aerial map of Sacramento, participants circled great places they liked, those areas they didn't and then wrote down what would make Sacramento the most livable city in America.

Results: Finally, after everyone's hard work, a member of each group presented their group's ideas about what Sacramento should do to be the most livable city in America. Ideas ranged from making neighborhoods more walkable to providing housing near jobs to making our rivers a major attraction. The top ideas from each meeting are summarized in the Town Hall Forum results reports listed below.

Issues Survey Summary Results

Across all the Town Hall Forums, many of the same themes emerged from the issues survey. Participants wanted to build on the great assets that Sacramento already has by making neighborhoods safer; increasing mixed-use development in commercial corridors and light rail stations; making neighborhoods walkable; adding more affordable housing; improving our streets and sidewalks; and expanding transportation choices, among others.

The following table shows a summary of the results from the issue survey from all the Town Hall Forums. The larger the bar, the more frequently it was ranked as a top priority at the Town Hall Forums.

Individual Results

Town Hall Forum Materials

The live/work maps are the result of an exercise conducted at each of the Town Hall Forums. Participants were asked to identify where they worked and where they lived using a colored sticker for each category. This information, along with registration information, was used to produce the THF Participant map. This map shows the relationship of where participants live, their neighborhood services areas, and the forum they attended.

How Your Input Was Used

The input that Town Hall Forum participants provided was used throughout the General Plan update process. Public input at each of the forums was used by the City for the Planning Issues Report, the General Plan Vision Statement and Guiding Principles, and the development of land use alternatives. In addition, input from the forums was used to update the City's Community Plans.