Uptown Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhood Strategy

Client: City of Long Beach

Location: North Long Beach, CA

Through two phases, this project aimed to craft a set of equitable design criteria and planning regulations for the Uptown neighborhood in North Long Beach.  Our team designed two temporary improvement projects for the project, along with walk audits and community touchpoints.  The first pilot rehabilitated a vacant storefront and activated the adjacent sidewalk, with patterns painted on the sidewalk, plants, and seating. Gigantic pictures of community members inhabited the storefront, describing why they love North Long Beach.  For the second pilot project, we build a parklet for a local cafe, with custom stamped patterns and a bright design that was coupled with a self-guided walking tour, using augmented reality, to invite the community into the planning process to envision the future North Long Beach.