Hands-on Public & Stakeholder workshops

We use hands-on workshops to allow meaningful public involvement. We have employed workshops successfully in projects ranging from the new plan in Watsonville, California to Dallas, Texas' first comprehensive plan to long-range planning for Louisiana's recovery. The workshop process challenges participants with the task of deciding where new growth should and should not occur within the city and the general form that new growth should take. Participants grapple with the issues and trade-offs related to placing growth in different locations throughout the city and in context with the region, given environmental, institutional, and infrastructural constraints.

 

Visual Preference surveys

Visual preference surveys are useful in finding what kinds of urban designs are viewed positively in the local area, and which are viewed negatively.  In addition, the effect of landscaping and open space can be judged, by adding these elements to the same image.  The reaction to a streetscape with and without street trees, for example, can then be assessed. Results are used immediately to develop a series of guiding principles that direct the entire visioning and planning process and accompanying evaluation criteria.

 

Websites and publications

With expertise in design and publication, Fregonese Associates has created many publications for clients entirely in-house. We consistently use the best tools to create compelling websites, newsletters, and reports to engage citizens in the planning process.

 

 

 

Training

In partnership with the Southern California Association of Governments, FA initiated a training program called "Toolbox Tuesdays" for planners in Southern California on several of FA's cutting edge tools including the creation of visualizations, our ROI model, and our scenario building tool, Envision Tomorrow. We are working with several other clients on the development of similar training courses. It is our way of sharing our tools and experience we have gained around the country in order to transfer regional concepts to on-the-ground projects.

 

Stakeholder interviews

In order to shed light on the common ideas and unique perspectives of key stakeholders, we conduct interviews to assess the participants' vision and goals for a project. This information also provides guidance for the recommendation of the final product.