Housing and Development Newsletter
"What we loved most was the community involvement this project undertook," said Stephanie Hassoldt Soldo, current president of the ASCE SBV branch. "The city of Goleta went above and beyond what we see in typical civil engineering projects, with a public outreach that was extensive and demonstrative of a true community partnership."
The comprehensive public outreach effort included engaging some 100 residents, property owners, and interested parties to secure Temporary Construction Easements (TCEs) to remove private encroachments within the city right-of-way and construct the improvements without taking any private property.
The public outreach (pre-COVID) included: door-to-door conversations; establishing a project specific ambassadors program with coffee-hour style meetings and project discussions; multiple community workshops at the community center; design charrettes; community coffee-hours with the local school officials and residents at the neighborhood park; mailings and postcards in English and Spanish; specific methods to engage the Spanish-speaking community; a dedicated project specific webpage; videos; targeted media coverage; and a celebratory, pre-construction open house in the neighborhood.