Watsonville Livable Community Design Guidelines
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Livable Community Workshop
On October 17, 2000 over 70 people attended a workshop at the Gene Hoularis & Waldo Rodriuez Youth Center Gym to discuss residential design and neighborhood planning criteria for Livable Community Design Guidelines. The workshop built on the March 2000 community charrette that identified livable community issues and ideas for Watsonville.
The objectives for the workshop included:
- Reviewing residential investment issues and opportunities
- Discussing livable community principles
- Identifying Watsonville's distinctive neighborhood and design features
The workshop participants worked as members of nine planning teams. Each team prepared maps that indicated the location of:
- Principal civic streets
- Sloughs
- Schools
- Parks
- Grocery stores
The teams added to their maps areas in the community of unique character reflecting the variety of street and block patterns, architecture, history, land use and other criteria they felt was important. They identified examples of where community-serving facilities were an integral part of the neighborhood and where they were not. Finally, each team added to their map photographs of houses and notes that reflected the good or bad features of selected character areas.
Most Distinctive Neighborhoods:
- Downtown
- Martinelli Neighborhood
- Bay Village retirement community
Most distinguishing features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Quality and diversity of architecture
- Front and back yards
- Mixed density
- Street life
- Trees
Most distinguishing features of low-density infill areas:
- Poorly planned
- Lack of open space
- Lack of landscaping
- Parking in streets
- Fences
- Small lots with no back yards or big lots with little houses
Most important distinguishing features of newer sub divisions:
- Not much variety-looks the same
- Small yards
- Fences
- Disconnected
- Expensive
Planning Teams
The following team summaries include photos of their character maps and what they felt were Watsonville's most distinctive neighborhoods and the distinguishing features of traditional neighborhoods, low-density infill areas, and newer sub divisions.
Team 1.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
1. Downtown:
- Victorian homes, historical structures
- More Trees, curb appeal
- Mixed uses
2. Martinelli/Brewington:
- Well-maintained elegant housing, new & old
- Wide street, street lights
- Close to schools
3. Clifford:
- Too many apartments, high density concentration
- Too many visible cars
- Feel unsafe
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Schools close by
- Trees, more of
- Distinctive architecture
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- East Lake Ave. units in back typically
- Limited parking
- Single family residence in front
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Higher density, smaller yards
- Lager houses
- More two-story houses
- Garages closer to street, bigger
Team 2.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
1. Downtown:
- City Plaza-good
- Fluctuation of economy-bad
- Character restoration-good
2. Retirement:
- Lack of progressive landscaping
- No characterto architecture
- Sense of community due to closeness
3. Calaghan
- Historically attractive/preserved
- Attractive setting/landscaping
- Physical-Hillside/Park
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Architecture-traditional
- Large open space surrounding-good
- Landscaping, low fence-good
- Backyards-good size
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Lacks planning
- Lack of public amenities
- Lack of character/scale
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Availability due to costs/price
- Sterile/no tradition
- Phoney-baloney design
Team 3.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
- Rodriguez
- Martinelli
- Greater Green Valley
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Movement in and out of area
- High density
- "Street life" (pedestrian)
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Granny units
- Cars parked in streets
- Less green, more pavement
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Boring, limited street interactions, same, same, same, same, same
- No overhead wires
- Dead ends
Team 4.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
- Downtown
- Brewington
- New Ugly (10-20 years old)
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Well maintained yards
- Large homes
- Architecture
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Miles Ln.
- Snout houses
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Horizon Hill (Sunset Cove)
- Green Valley Highlands
- Willow Creek
- Winding Way
Characteristics:
- Snouty houses
- Lack character/originality
- Cheap construction
- No yards-small yards
- Garages in Front
- No trees
- No porches
- Fencing all around
Team 5.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
1. Beach Street Corridor
- Distinctive architecture
- Diversity of architectural elements
2. Main Street/Downtown
- Victorian/Bungalow
3. Martinelli/Brewington
- Corridor
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
1. Airport Boulevard Corridor
- Underutilized parcels
- Inconsistent
- Design/architecture
- School neighborhood
2. Freedom/Carey area
- Larger/unimproved lots
- Underutilized parcels
- Existing utilities
3. Atkinson Lane area
- Same opportunities above
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions: Affordable/diversity
1. Franich property
- Dense/lush greenery-street trees
- Enhanced streetscape/People & activity to the street not garages
2. Landmark/Harkin Slough area
- Connection to natural resources/sloughs & wetlands
- Clear relationship to Downtown
- School/Park as focal point
3. Longview
- High density infill /design
- Higher density
- High quality park/landscape
Team 6.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
- Downtown/Plaza area
- Martinelli/Brewington
- Bay Village or Tuttle or Portola Heights
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Porches
- Some trees/gardens
- Lawns
- Friendly scale
- Charm
- Each house distinctive
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Six ft. black fence
- Second Units in backyards
- No backyards
- One or two stories
- Crowded/not enough parking
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Sidewalks
- Trees
- Enough parking
Team 8. (No Team 7)
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
- Brewington/Martinelli
- Clifford/Pennsylvania
- Pajaro/Bay Village
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Large yard
- Low density
- Garages in back/detach
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Unimproved streets
- Older small homes on large parcels
- Rural fringe-feel
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Garage relatively prominent
- Two story
- Small yards
- Uniformity
- Overpriced
Team 9.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
1. Bay Villages
- Homogeneous
- Retirement
- Small scale, friendly, good circulation
2. Brewington
- Custom-schools
3. SFR-Large lots/Large trees, large homes
- Low density
4. Downtown
- Charm (porches)
- Traditional
- Character
- Historical, mixed-use, business
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Porches
- Architecturally pleasing
- Mature landscape
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Granny unit-badly planned
- More connected flow of neighborhood
- Pedestrian friendly-needs
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Disconnected from city-plopped there
- Local park & schools needed
- Need mixed-use-diversity
- Buffer zones, farm land
- Architecture character of City (needs to fit)
Team 10.
Three most distinctive Watsonville neighborhoods:
1. Martinelli/Brewington
- Wide streets/trees
- Well maintained
2. Riverside Drive
- Old/rundown
- No trees
- Busy street
3. Holly Drive
- Boxy house, Flat roof
- No trees
- Too dense (People)
Distinctive features of traditional neighborhoods:
- Stylish design
- Landscape
- Well-kept
- Lower density
- Larger lots, deep
Distinctive features of low-density infill neighborhoods:
- Smaller lots
- Smaller yards
- Less open space
- Provided traditional amenities ie. yards
Distinctive features of newer subdivisions:
- Lack play areas, open space
- Close together
- Can be done well, but not always, must emphasize design