Pico Rivera is a fast-growing city of about 65,000 people in a densely urban eight-square-mile area. One of its major corridors, Whittier Boulevard, is mainly vehicle-oriented, with large parking lots that create gaps and a mix of land uses and development character, ranging from historic main street to suburban big box. The result was a weak public realm and with little placemaking. Almost all Census tracts in that area are considered Disadvantaged Communities.

The new Specific Plan and Multimodal Plan for revitalizing about two-miles of Whittier Boulevard are based on an extensive Existing Conditions Report and community engagement. 

The plans will create a new Uptown District with safer streets and community-oriented spaces that strengthen the city’s unique identity and promote the local economy.  It will transform the Boulevard from a typical suburban, high-speed arterial to a corridor that comfortably accommodates cyclists and pedestrians. Existing alleys will be replaced with a network of pedestrian paseos. The Specific Plan will complement the multimodal improvements by allowing for mixed-use development and stand-alone, higher-density townhomes and apartments, with the district anchored by entertainment uses for people of all ages. Together, the two Plans link transportation and land use strategies to promote the development of a new, walkable neighborhood center. 

To build consensus for these plans, MIG completed an extensive community engagement plan, which featured unique project branding, a youth ambassadors’ program with a local high school, pop-up booths at neighborhood events, community open houses in vacant storefronts, a virtual open house website, an ESRI StoryMaps website, a virtual reality model, and augmented reality before/after images the community could access with QR codes placed in real-world locations, during a popular “Scavenger Hunt.”

The plans will be a fundamental mechanism for decision-makers, providing guidance for budgeting, capital projects, programs and development proposals.