San Marcos Creek, California

What happens when communities agree that a long-range vision is necessary, but can’t reach agreement over what it should be? The City of San Marcos presents a good example. Exploring ways to develop a new downtown — one that could serve as an infill model for North County San Diego — the San Marcos citizens’ task force had spent 20 months disagreeing over how to proceed.

Enter PlaceMaker Howard Blackson who, in coming aboard to lead the Stakeholder Committee, was able to foster consensus and deliver a revised plan to city decision-makers within one year.

The plan, produced in collaboration with WRT, establishes a new, 200-acre downtown grid of shops, restaurants, offices and housing of up to six stories — designed with the highest standards for energy efficiency — along San Marcos Creek, a two-mile stretch of previously unimproved creek bed.