Events in the Charrette
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On May 31, a Town Meeting was convened at the former Wells Fargo
branch. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the community to the charrette process
and introduce the principles of urban design. Great citizen interest was indicated by the
overflow turnout, as depicted above. Victor
Dover was introduced; he presented examples of streets and buildings that create
places worth caring about. He also charged the community with the responsibility to
participate in the upcoming charrette process. Burning questions about current
development projects were deferred to the kickoff session. The Town Meeting and subsequent events were publicized
throughout Hercules.
Next, the planning team received professional
research and analysis on the housing, retail, commercial and transportation conditions
in Hercules. |
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Regional Tour
After arriving on site in late June, the planning team joined City staff and leadership
for a day-long tour of best-loved buildings and streets in west Contra Costa and the
northern Bay region. Team members took photos of vernacular architecture and
measurements of streets and public spaces. |
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 Kickoff Session
On Friday evening, June 23, at 7:00 PM, citizens joined the planning team and learned how
to be "citizen planners". Answers were given to the burning questions about
current development projects, and the City's planning and approval process. Citizens were
encouraged to "argue with their pencils" at the following day's "Hands
On" session. |
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"Hands On" Session
On Saturday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, again at the Swim Center on Refugio Road,
nearly two hundred citizen planners, aided by twenty professioinal design facilitators,
drew their visions of Hercules.  
Citizens "argued with their pencils" in small groups at tables equipped with
base maps, tracing paper, markers and sticky notes.
Ideas, shared with neighbors and the planning team, became an important part of the
planning process. Citizens were able to see the "big picture".
To conclude, each table reported their vision to the entire room.
The key points were recorded; then the maps and notes on large boards were transported to
the temporary design studio at the former Wells Fargo building.
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Design Studio
With a solid understanding of the current conditions and possible futures, the planning
team got underway with meetings, sketches and drawing in the design studio. 
The studio was open to the public at all times, all week long.
Citzens could see the plan taking shape, participate in meetings, and make comments at any
time. The press was kept apprised of daily
events.
As the week wore on, and the plan changed shape many times, the team's pace quickened in
anticipation of the interim report on Thursday. Computer images were prepared to
communicate the essential results.
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Interim Results Presentation
On Thursday evening, June 29, the planning team again met the citizens at the Swim Center.
This time, the team presented the results of the week’s intensive work in a
multimedia presentation. 
We "walked through" an illustrated guidebook to the future Town Center of
Hercules. Key stakeholders and the City leadership were on hand to share and celebrate
this historic event. This site displays three
images used in the interim presentation.
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