East Salinas is bustling these days. On almost every block of commercial sectors, people go in and out of small businesses and walk down streets and across busy intersections; meanwhile, residential neighborhoods are bursting at the seams.
The predominantly Latino East Salinas neighborhoods, which include the Alisal, house people who for the most part work in low-wage industries – with a third living in poverty – according to a 2015 study conducted by the city. Issues of poverty snowball into community-wide problems of overcrowded housing, crime, poor health and low educational attainment. To appease these concerns, city officials are investing time and money to reimagine the overall function of the neighborhood.
On July 5, Salinas City Council unanimously approved the Community Vibrancy Plan for the Alisal and East Salinas neighborhoods, the first formal revitalization effort for the district since the city’s inception, and since the Alisal was annexed into the city in the 1960s.
“It will really focus on development as empowerment for the community,” City Manager Ray Corpuz says.
“The liquor store gets robbed maybe once a week.”
As the first step toward achieving its ideal vision of economic growth for East Salinas, the city plans to embark on a one-year strategy session with residents, business owners and stakeholders in the community. Together, they hope to prioritize improvements and ideas for what will make a better community. (City Council has approved up to $400,000 for planning efforts.)
“This is going to be a transparent, community-driven process,” says Lisa Brinton, the city’s community and economic development services manager. “The plan is intended to benefit and serve that community, which is why it’s important for the planning process to be driven by them.”
A quick survey of an East Alisal Street commercial area hints that residents share one main concern: public safety.
“It would be nice to see more officers patrol the area. The liquor store in front of me gets robbed at gunpoint maybe once a week,” says Rafael Terrazas, manager at Cuevas Tires.
Berta Lopez, a business owner and vendor at Mercado Mi Rancho, chimes in that more parks and open spaces would be helpful to keep children away from a delinquent life. Jose Velga, another business owner at Mi Rancho, says he wants to see more educational programs for children, also hoping for a more positive outcome for kids.
Brinton says her team will listen to those concerns and help develop a plan for a solution.
“You have to start with the primary concerns and then tease the dialogue, but that concern needs to be put in a larger context,” Brinton says. “How will safer streets play into public safety, or how will vibrant commercial corridors and parks play into that?”
Rethinking current commercial land uses, transit services, housing options and streetscape designs are part of the plan, in addition to revisiting the visionary development proposal of the Alisal Marketplace, which aims to bridge the west and east sides of town, reshaping the center of the city. The relocation of the Salinas police station from Lincoln Street to East Alisal Street is one part of the big-picture plan. All of these projects are expected to be implemented over the next 15 to 20 years.