By Nels Westman
The Vision Capitola project has been completed. Vision Capitola was an all-volunteer, grassroots effort to get the most current picture of the Capitola community’s thinking about two questions: “What do you value most about Capitola?” and “What would you like to see happen in Capitola in the next 5-15 years?” The final Vision Capitola Report was submitted to the Capitola City Council on May 12.
The information was gathered during the last three weeks of April. Public comments were received via two community workshops at Jade Street Community Center, emails and U.S. Mail.
Over 300 people participated in the process. A total of 1,580 comments were received, summarized and incorporated into the final report.
By far participants placed their highest values on Capitola’s small town feeling, strong neighborhood identity, the natural beauty of its ocean and beach, its walkable/bikeable scale and its charming Village.
Responses to the question “What would you like to see happen in Capitola in the next 5 – 15 years?” were more diverse The major general categories of interest dealt with Capitola Village, traffic and circulation throughout the city, the re-vitalization of the Capitola Mall, maintenance of city infrastructure and maintaining and improving city parks.
Drilling down into the most frequently mentioned specific comments the top five in descending order of frequency were:
- The revitalization of Capitola Mall
- Supporting the railroad right-of-way for bikes and pedestrians without trains
- Maintaining the existing scale and charm of the Village by not overbuilding
- Increasing the city budget for maintaining streets and sidewalks
- Improving pedestrian safety citywide including flashing lights at the most dangerous crosswalks.
After the public process was completed many participants remarked how much they enjoyed the community spirit of gathering with their fellow residents and talking about Capitola. Their hope was that this somehow could become a regular event in Capitola.
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The full Vision Capitola Report can be read and downloaded on Vision Capitola’s website www.visioncapitola.com