SUSTAINABLE FOSTER CITY
"Sustaining and Enhancing the Quality of Life in Foster City"
Foster City is a great place to live, work and play! How do we know? We've looked at a number of measures that tell us so! The Foster City Economic Development Dashboard shows at a glance how Foster City is doing economically and we're going to expand our measures to include additional quality of life measures. Want to know about the businesses in town, or the City's ability to pay for the needs of the community?
Foster City has a history as a master planned community in which strategic decisions in the areas of land use and budget and spending have allowed the community to thrive. More recently, environmental initiatives have become strategic imperatives in the community, including community outreach through the City's Environmental Sustainability Task Force and within the City's own operations.
"Sustainable Foster City" is the next step in Foster City's on-going effort to ensure the long-term viability of the Foster City community and its way of life. To be truly sustainable, a community must be economically sustainable, environmentally sustainable and ensure the social equity and quality of life of its residents and business community. The Sustainable Foster City plan has been developed to set the course for Foster City's on-going Sustainability efforts.
The plan, which was presented to the City Council on November 5, 2012 recommends seven priority objectives in three initiative areas:
1. INVEST IN FOSTER CITY
- Increase overall property values through sustainable development and redevelopment
- Enhance the availability of quality and reliable infrastructure, utilities and natural resources to support economic growth in Foster City
2. SHOP IN FOSTER CITY
- Increase overall retail stability and sales in Foster City
- Grow the economic base in the community for purposes of providing greater employment opportunities, tax revenues and wealth creation opportunities in key industrial and/or commercial areas
- Provide a greater diversity and level of retail options in the greater context of availability within the region
3. WE ARE FOSTER CITY
- Increase public awareness of why Foster City is an ideal place to live, work and play
- Increase civic and community engagement through collaborative networks and organizations
In order to accomplish the strategic objectives, the following five priority tasks have been identified for completion by June 30, 2012:
- Assessment of retail strengths and weaknesses
- Business promotion, support and advocacy
- Create a Foster City Identity/Quality of Life Campaign
- Investigate and implement a Clean Energy Initiative
- Create a Foster City Economic Development Dashboard - The Dashboard is up and running! Additional measures will be added so check back periodically.
Special thanks to the Sustainable Foster City strategic guidance team, which is made up of:
- Charlie Bronitsky, Vice Mayor
- Herb Perez, City Councilmember
- Jim Hardy, City Manager
- Steve Toler, Assistant City Manager
- Curtis Banks, Community Development Director
- Kevin Miller, Parks and Recreation Director
- Joanne Bohigian, CEO, Foster City Chamber of Commerce
- Sally Liu, Community Member and Former Chair of the Foster City Environmental Sustainability Task Force
Want to know more? Contact us at sustainable@fostercity.org!
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