El Camino Real/Downtown Vision Plan

City of Menlo Park

DC&E worked with the City of Menlo Park to develop a Vision Plan for both Menlo Park's downtown, located along Santa Cruz Avenue, and the El Camino Real corridor, which is an important connection between Menlo Park and other Peninsula cities. Santa Cruz Avenue and El Camino Real run perpendicular to one another and are closely related, with the downtown hosting a variety of long-standing commercial and office uses in relatively low-rise development and the El Camino corridor featuring several large vacant parcels that formerly housed auto dealerships. DC&E gathered community input on the project through a variety of methods, including walking tours of the planning area, a bus tour of comparable downtowns on the Peninsula, community workshops, outreach to community groups, and a community survey. The final Vision Plan included a series of principles that summarize the direction that is foreseen for this area of the City and a conceptual plan that illustrates proposed land uses. The Vision Plan will serve as the basis for a Specific Plan governing development in the same area.