<< Back to COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, EQUITY + STRATEGIC PLAN

DIRIDON STATION AREA COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 

San Jose | CA

Plan to Place, teaming with Raimi + Associates, is collaborating with the City of San Jose on a comprehensive engagement strategy to foster a range of community and stakeholder input related to the transit hub in the heart of the Downtown San Jose, targeted by Google for a mixed-use campus. Engagement activities include monthly meetings with a 38-person advisory group, solution group meetings, pop-up/intercept and stakeholder meetings, walking tours, regional workshops, surveys, digital tools and custom branding materials and a project website (https://www.diridonsj.org).  

“Plan to Place was an important partner to the City on the multi-faceted Diridon Station Area program in 2017-21. It was a tough project to start - engaging the community on what was then a potential project by Google to locate in Downtown San Jose. As facilitators, Dave and the Plan to Place team demonstrated much professionalism, patience, and empathy in the face of protests and intense fears about displacement. They offered many creative and effective ideas for conducting an inclusive, transparent process that led to a set of desired outcomes for the project area. The efforts evolved to include an update to the Diridon Station Area Plan, review of Google’s proposed project (Downtown West), and the multi-agency Diridon Integrated Station Concept Plan. Plan to Place adapted to the changing needs and helped bring clarity and consistency to the City’s communications about the complex mix of efforts occurring in the area. We received many compliments on the website that Plan to Place set up (diridonsj.org) and the easy-to-understand graphics that Plan to Place generated. Ultimately, the thoughtful design and implementation of the engagement process helped build broad support for the outcomes. We highly recommend Plan to Place as an outreach consultant for local governments working on community development projects.”
- Lori Severino, Diridon Program Manager and Assistant to the City Manager, City of San Jose