Join Us for Community Design Charrette

In Person: June 13-20, 2024

Online: June 20 - September 2, 2024

Help Us Design the Future of Shoreline!

The City of Long Beach is in the process of updating the Vision for the Downtown Shoreline, crafting a new future of what the community would like to see in one of the City's most prominent spaces looking ahead to the year 2050. The project team has reached a critical point in the process, translating the big ideas heard during community outreach events in 2023 and integrating the guiding principles that were crafted with input from the Community Roundtable into drawings and design ideas for the future. The Community Design Charrette is intended to be a week-long participatory "ideas exchange" where the public is invited into the design process to discuss and evaluate opportunities, challenges and tradeoffs of "BIG IDEAS" that are under consideration and gather community input in the creation of a preferred scenario, depicting a vision of what the community would like the area to be in 2050.

Translation is available. Please let us know when you register for each event if you need language services.

For more information, visit the project website at www.LongBeach.gov/DTshoreLB.

A Community Design charrette is an intense design and engagement process where the community is invited to work directly with neighbors, business owners, stakeholders, City staff and a team of planners and designers to illustrate the community’s vision for the future. We hope you can join us as we work together to craft a clear vision for the future of the Downtown Shoreline area - Everyone’s Shoreline!

The multi-day Community Design Charrette invites the community, stakeholders, and other interested parties into the design process to consider opportunities, challenges, and trade-offs afforded by different changes that could happen in the future.

Throughout the charrette, the project team will explore "Big Moves." Including questions like, "What could the Convention Center be in the future?" "How would reshaping the physical edges of the Shoreline change the district and improve resiliency?" "How can we physically, visually and culturally reconnect the Shoreline to Downtown and the City?"

We will explore the opportunities and challenges afforded by these "Big Moves" through the lens of leading issues that will shape our design thinking, including environmental resiliency, economic resiliency, equity, and connectivity.

Most of the Community Design Charrette activities will be held June 14 and 15, with a community launch on June 13, and a work-in-progress presentation for the Planning Commission on June 20.

The Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan is the first step in a multi-phased effort to update the regulations that guide development in the Downtown Shoreline area.

Guided by community input, the Vision Plan will define an image of the area in 2050 including the role Downtown Shoreline fulfills as a local and regional resource, what types of uses the area should support, and how Downtown Shoreline can better reflect and support Long Beach residents -- so it is truly everyone's shoreline.

Downtown Long Beach is the only significant urban center in the region that directly engages the Pacific Ocean, and the Shoreline area is Downtown’s gateway to the waterfront.

Like many waterfront areas around the world, Downtown Shoreline currently contains a mix of uses and associations. It serves as a residential area along Ocean Boulevard, a workplace, a tourist destination, an active waterfront for mariners, and a venue for regional events.

The area also has a history that many long-time members of the Long Beach Community remember fondly, and development over the last 20 years has significantly shifted what there is to do in the area, who visits and when.

These varied perspectives and their competing priorities produce lots of ideas about the future of the Downtown Shoreline area, and the Vision Plan is an opportunity to listen to all perspectives, define what role the community would like the Downtown Shoreline to play, explore design possibilities and arrive at a Vision for the future that supports the community's aspirations for the year 2050.

The Vision that emerges will serve as the foundation for a new Specific Plan that will codify the vision into regulations that will guide development so future changes in the area are consistent with the Community's Vision for the future.

The Downtown Shoreline covers the coastal area south of Downtown Long Beach. It spans between the Los Angeles River and Alamitos Avenue and includes everything south of Ocean Boulevard.

The Project team conducted several community outreach events throughout the second half of 2023, and worked with Community Roundtable members, a group of community members, stakeholders, and advocates to craft eight draft guiding principles that reflect community input.

The draft guiding principles are available for community review in an online survey that asks the community to review the principles, identify aspirational priorities and share additional ideas for the future of Downtown Shoreline.

The guiding principles will form the framework for the Vision Plan.

Take the survey

Opportunities Lookbook
To complement and support the ongoing community visioning and engagement work the Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan Opportunities Lookbook has been developed to summarize the plan area history, and existing conditions of the area today related to land use, urban design and mobility today. The Lookbook can be viewed using the links below:


Data Working Group

To gain a deeper understanding of local needs and ensure a community-centered approach, the City partnered with specialists, community-based organizations and neighborhood associations. A summary of the valuable insights and feedback received during these processes can be found in the following reports:

Share Your Ideas Online!

Thank you for joining the Long Beach Shoreline team for the Community Design Charrette!
In addition to the events in June, we will be hosting an online forum through September 2, 2024.

Please check out the Big Ideas and share your thoughts!

Learn more about the BIG IDEAS!

Thursday July 18 -

*RESCHEDULED* Update to Planning Commission

On Thursday, June 20, the City planned to wrap up the week-long Charrette with a presentation to the Planning Commission, but the Planning Commission meeting was cancelled, and the study session is in the process of being rescheduled. The study session will present an overview of the process, a summary of the input received during the Charrette, a walk through the work-in-progress completed during the week-long event and what's next for the Downtown Shoreline Vision Plan.

Following the presentation, the online commenting tools will be available to the community until August 1 to provide additional opportunities for the community to provide input on the BIG IDEAS.

After the online commenting period closes, the team will craft and evaluate a preferred scenario. The Scenario will be reviewed by the Community Roundtable in the Fall and presented to the Public through an open house event in the winter before going to public hearings.

The Planning Commission starts at 5 pm in the City Council Chambers.

This event will be live-streamed and recorded.

Past Events

JUNE 13: Kickoff at the Aquarium

Thursday, June 13 (6 pm - 8 pm) the project team will be kicking off the Charrette at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Come hear a presentation to learn about the project, where the City is in the process and what is planned for the Charrette workshops over the next two days.

This event will be recorded.

Registration is not required

JUNE 14: Emerging Leaders

This is a special event on Friday, June 14, from 5:00-6:30 pm for students aged 15-26.

This event is open to all students between 15 and 26 years of age, but registration is required.

JUNE 14 and 15: Focused Topics Forums

For the last year, the project team has been gathering input from the community and evaluating the existing opportunities and challenges in the Downtown Shoreline today. Through those efforts, four key issues that will play a critical role in the future of Downtown Shoreline were identified and will be discussed through focused sessions on Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15.

Click on each forum topic below to learn more about the issue, register to participate in the forum, review and comment on real-time design ideas as they are discussed in our in-person events and add your own ideas to our wall.

UPDATE: Forums are open to all, Registration is encouraged but not required (please register if you require interpretation)

JUNE 15: Biking and Walking Tours

Experience Shoreline!

Community volunteers will lead guided biking and walking tours around the project area on Saturday, June 15, 2024.

Tours will include opportunities for participants of different abilities to see the project area and gain deeper insight into the design ideas under consideration.


  • 9:00 am - 11:00 am: 6.5-mile Bike Tour with City Staff and DLBA

Start and finish at Studio One Eleven

Bring your own bike or create an account and come early to borrow a bike through the Long Beach CA Bikeshare program. Fees may apply and bikeshare bikes are not guaranteed.

(limited shuttle options are available at 9am for those physically unable to ride a bike or join the 4:30 pm walking tour. Seats are limited and registration is required! - registration required. )


  • 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: 4.5-mile Bike Tour with Car-Lite Long Beach

Start and finish at Studio One Eleven

Bring your own bike or create an account and come early to borrow a bike through the Long Beach CA Bikeshare program. Fees may apply and bikeshare bikes are not guaranteed.


  • 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: 2.15-mile Walking Tour with Car-Lite Long Beach

Start and finish at Studio One Eleven

The walking route is navigable to those who use wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers, but it will include inclines and 2.15 miles of walking. If you have questions about route details, please email us at downtownplan@longbeach.gov.

JUNE 15: Open Studio

Watch us Work!

Saturday, June 15, in the afternoon (1:30 pm-4:30 pm), the team will be working in the studio to review the ideas contributed during the events held earlier in the week and refining preliminary concepts to the "Big Design Move" options to integrate the community's feedback on land use, roadway alignments, accessibility, and the visitor experience, among other topics. The team's updated overview of big ideas will be shown during the Community Gallery presentation later in the evening. It will also be shared with the Planning Commission on June 20 as a "work in progress" presentation to get their feedback.

During this time, any community member, business owner, official, or stakeholder who wishes to join in and provide comments, suggestions, or simply watch us work, is invited to stop by and drop in at their own convenience. Our Team members will be available to engage with the community, answer questions and discuss feedback and ideas.

JUNE 15: Community Gallery

Preview the Big Ideas

On Saturday, June 15, in the evening (6:00 pm - 7:30 pm), the input gathered throughout the Charrette will be out on display in the studio. The evening will commence with opening remarks describing the feedback we heard and inviting the public to engage with the content. The big ideas and concepts generated as part of this effort will also be presented to the Planning Commission during a study session on June 20.