Author: Nicole Guzman, CommUniverCity Project Coordinator

Over 70 people attended the Delmas Park Open House on December 5th at the Children’s Discovery Museum. This event allowed residents and other stakeholders to come together to discuss the existing community assets and outline future changes they would like to see in their community. We also support local businesses, so we had food catered from Poor House Bistro, a popular New Orleans themed restaurant in Delmas Park, known as a place to gather and listen to live music on the weekends.

A range of interactive activities were designed to gather residents’ needs and priorities. For example, people wanted to see a vibrant mixed-use corridor with infill housing and new businesses, such as restaurants and retail shops.  One activity titled, “Putting the Park back in Delmas Park” encouraged residents to vote for their favorite type, and a few crowd favorites include an Urban Plaza, Community Center, and Trails (See image below).

Other community needs that emerged from community feedback was they would like to see more public art, street lights, and safer streets for pedestrians and bicyclists (e.g., protected bike lanes and crosswalks along Auzerais and West San Carlos Street). (See image below)

About 54% of open house participants stated that the event increased participant understanding of how to be involved in the community planning process. Additionally, 69% strongly agreed with the statement that the Open House increased their knowledge of neighborhood issues, assets, and priorities.

The Delmas Park Open House had other memorable moments. For instance, Mayor Sam Liccardo and Councilmember Raul Peralez spoke at the event, supporting the benefits the come from the collaboration between Delmas Park, CommUniverCity, and San Jose State University.

Another community favorite at the Open House was the premiere of the community video titled, “Now Arriving: A Changing Delmas Park.”

We also revealed our Snapchat geofilter, which was seen over 300 times!

Overall, students’ contributed over 1200 hours of hard work to put this event together for the community of Delmas Park. The findings from this year’s Open House, in addition to the synthesis of data collected from interviews, focus groups, and survey data, will be incorporated into a Community Assessment report, which will be available on our Community Planning page. Furthermore, CommUniverCity’s collaboration with Delmas Park does not end here, we will continue to work in this community, and residents canexpect a new cohort of Urban and Regional Planning students engaging with them during the Spring semester.

Special thanks to:

• Mayor Sam Liccardo
• Councilmember Raul Peralez
• Delmas Park Neighborhood Association: Andrew Tubbs (president), Sarah Springer (vice-president), Bert Weaver (treasurer)
• Faculty: Professor Richard Kos, Dr. Kevin Fang, Dr. Kerry Rohrmeier, and Dr. Zongchao Cathy Li
• Children’s Discovery Museum Staff: Jessica Torres, Patricia Narciso
• SJSU students from URBP 295 and MCOM 104