A Revisioning of Downtown Atascadero

My class at Cal Poly SLO acted as consultants for the city of Atascadero to create a long term vision for their downtown to make it more walkable, dense, and mixed-use.

The class split the existing downtown into sub areas, with small teams working on each. I worked on the historic core, anchored by the historic City Hall, built in 1914, and sunken garden. Today, two sides of this park are lined with parking lots and small commercial buildings. In the image above, I reimagine the space framed with multi-story mixed use structures, fronted by a public arcade. I created all the artwork shown on this page.

The image on the right shows a “riverwalk” along the local creek.

A Phased Approach

These images imagine a phased approach to revitalization in Downtown. Starting with a small investment in a converted shipping container on a city-owned lot, this space can serve as a “business incubator,” slowly building up over time with more permanent structures. The final design is a “Grand Paseo” that serves as a marketplace, while retaining small shop spaces for entrepreneurs.

On right is a pedestrian circulation plan which envisions current alleyways as car-free “paseos” creating a network of walking paths across Downtown. On the left is a future land-use map.