Carr Lake / JLJA worked with Big Sur Land Trust and neighborhood groups to enact a community-based approach to envisioning the Carr Lake Watershed's potential. Access to open space for Salinas residents is currently extremely low (2.1 acres of parkland per 10,000 people) and the project’s focal point was improving Salinas’ livability by linking Carr Lake to adjacent parks, open spaces, and riparian/creek corridors. Based on background studies, hydrologic evaluation, existing conditions, and adjacent land uses, JLJA developed a site diagram that served as a platform for a series of community design meetings. Conceived as "community conversations," these bilingual meetings were an opportunity for neighbors and designers to work together to identify needs and program and then to create a vision and concept plan for what became known as Salinas’ ‘Central Park’. JLJA produced a final report summarizing the process and results for use in future fund-raising and city-wide master planning efforts.

Client: Big Sur Land Trust
Location: Salinas, CA
Dates: 2010-2011
Size: 480 acres
Project Director:  Big Sur Land Trust
Neighborhood Representative:  COPA - Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action