Survey Results

Strong Community Response to General Plan Survey

In September 2011 the survey results were presented to the City Council, Planning Commission, Transportation Advisory Commission, and the General Plan Update Advisory Committee (GPUAC).

Response to the General Plan survey was strong with almost 3,000 returns that were well-distributed among all Pasadena-area zip codes. The results show strong support for the General Plan’s existing seven guiding principles and reflect a diversity of opinions about the future for six planning areas in the City.

The survey results provided a framework to begin drafting a concept land use plan.  In preparing the plan, staff will also take into consideration the City’s seven guiding principles, the Draft Economic Development Strategic Plan, and environmental factors such as greenhouse gas emissions. A draft of the concept plan will then be presented to the community, city commissions, and City Council.

Key Findings of the Survey:

Land Use Alternatives:

• Alternative C (focus future growth around Gold Line Stations and major intersections) was the most preferred alternative within each planning area, followed by Alternative B (focus on improving the local economy) in all areas except the Central District.
• Preferences for the Central District were more diverse, with Alternatives B, C, and D (reduce development capacity throughout the City) all receiving between 20 and 30 percent support.
• Alternative A (redirect growth away from the Central District and into other areas of the City) had the lowest level of support in all planning areas.
• No alternative received more than one-third of the response for any of the planning areas.
• The two most frequent factors that guided the preference land use alternative were “Jobs, shopping and housing close to transit” and “Increasing jobs.”

Guiding Principles:

• At least 70 percent of the respondents rated every guiding principle as a high priority or medium priority.
• Respondents strongly supported public education and sustainability as themes to be integrated in the guiding principles.

Mobility Policies:

• The two policy statements with strongest support included targeting new housing, shopping, and offices around transit stations and modifying streets so that they are safe and attractive places to walk.
• There was less support for creating a new system of bike lanes by reducing traffic lanes and limiting the supply of parking around Gold Line stations to encourage transit use.

View the survey report and supporting documents:

View the newsletter and survey: