Thanks to the more than 20 people who participated in the Citywide Visioning Workshop on June 4! The purpose of the event was to have residents work together to envision what West Haven should be like 10 years from now and to identify and rank priority topics or areas. The roundtable discussion groups were lively and spirited, and participants left with new connections and a sense of common ground with many of their neighbors. The workshop focused on two sets of questions that are at the heart of planning for the future of a West Haven:

1. Where should West Haven be 10 years from now? What do we want to have happen in West Haven by 2037?
2. What should be the priority areas and/or topics of the 2027 POCD? What areas and/or topics should be priority #1? What about priority #2, #3, and so on?

Overall, two topics that rose to the top during the group discussions were: 1) the need to revitalization of Downtown (or The Center, Campbell Avenue) so that it is a destination for residents and visitors alike and 2) the importance of creating a safe and comfortable environment for pedestrians in The Center and other parts of the City too. The implementation of the recently adopted Downtown Municipal Development Plan will help achieve these visions and priorities. While there has been progress in redeveloping vacant buildings and properties along the beach, many groups placed a high priority on continuing to redevelop vacant properties and buildings along the beach, around the train station, and on the site of the former The Haven project. Most of the groups also identified improving the appearance of Boston Post Road (Route 1) as a priority.

Click here to view the Workshop Presentation.

Click here to view the Responses of the Roundtable Discussion Groups.

The results of the workshop provide a foundation for considering goals, priorities, and strategies that could be incorporated into West Haven’s next POCD. However,
this conversation is not over! We want to encourage more West Haven residents and other members of the community to discuss the same questions that we asked during the June 4 workshop. We will update this website next week with more details on how you can go about doing this.