2022 AIA Communities by Design Reimagining Petaluma SDAT - Report - Page 5
Petaluma DAT
The Design Assistance
Team Program
The DAT program is a public service of the American
Institute of Architects (AIA). Through the DAT program,
over 1,000 professionals from more than 30 disciplines
have provided millions of dollars in professional pro
bono services to more than 200 communities across the
country, engaging tens of thousands of participants in
citizen-driven community development processes. While
the normal public decision-making process is conducted
within the parameters of representative government,
design assistance transcends the political process and
expands the public dialogue to include other sectors
with the intent of building a platform for cross-sector
collaboration, civic leadership, and a new approach
to public work. The design assistance process brings
together government and civic leaders, the business
sector, non-profit leaders, and the general public in an
inclusive, ‘whole-community dialogue’ to build collective
action plans for the future. The Design Assistance
program operates with four key considerations:
It begins with the idea that every community represents
a unique place that is the product of its own history,
tradition, and evolution. There are no one-size-fits-all
approaches to community development. Therefore,
each project is designed as a customized approach
to community assistance which incorporates local
realities and the unique challenges and assets of each
community. Public processes are designed to meld with
local practices, experiences and culture while expanding
participation to all citizens.
Second, successful community strategies require
whole systems analyses and integrated strategies. As
a result, each design assistance team includes an
interdisciplinary focus, incorporating and examining
cross-cutting topics and relationships between issues.
In order to accomplish this task, the AIA forms teams
that combine a range of disciplines and professions in an
integrated design process.
Third, successful communities work together for the
common good, moving beyond narrow agendas to serve
the whole. Each community is required to have a broadbased local steering committee that is representative
and can lead community engagement efforts, ensuring
all community members are represented in the process.
The goal of the design assistance team program is to
provide communities with a framework for collective
action. Each project team is constructed with the goal of
bringing an objective perspective to the community that
transcends the normal politics of community issues.
Finally, community development requires collective
public work that empowers citizens to partner. Each
design assistance project is a public event, an act of
modern democracy. The citizen expert is central to the
process. Community-owned processes are designed
to incorporate dozens of techniques to engage the
public in a multi-faceted format, involve the community
across sectors, and provide a platform for meaningful
participation that builds a collective action plan. This
approach allows the national team to leverage the best
existing knowledge base available in formulating its
recommendations – citizens. It also provides a platform
for relationship building, partnership, and collaboration
for implementation. The final action plans reflect citizen
voice and include phased recommendations which
begin with volunteer-driven, no-cost efforts and scale
upward and outward. Citizen groups become empowered
through the process and community leadership
is broadened beyond government. Its grassroots
approach captures the ethos of successful community
development.
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About The Petaluma Team
The Petaluma DAT Charge
The Petaluma Design Assistance Team (see appendix
for the full team roster) is an interdisciplinary group
of professionals from around the country that were
assembled specifically for this project. They were
deliberately chosen from outside the state of California.
They were not paid for their service to the Petaluma
community. They were not engaged in any business
development activities. It is also important to note that
AIA teams do not serve a client. They were not another
consultant team hired by a developer, institution, or
government agency. As a group of legitimate outsiders,
their efforts are all made in public service to the
community and the recommendations offered in this
report are done so in the public interest, taking into
account the community’s values and aspirations, as well
as the existing conditions. The team’s role in this process
included the following key components:
In late 2019, Petaluma submitted an application to the
AIA for a project that would help the community create
a vision for achieving a well-designed, equitable, carbon
neutral city within the next 25 years, with the intention of
integrating the DAT recommendations into the upcoming
General Plan update. The original application was
accepted by the AIA in 2020, a DAT team leader was
duly appointed, and community representatives and AIA
staff began discussing next steps for moving forward
with the project. In March of 2020, the Covid-19
pandemic halted those plans, ultimately resulting in a
two-year pause in the process. In the intervening years,
Petaluma continued to make significant progress with
regards to its livability and climate goals, including
the adoption of the Climate Emergency Framework,
which became the guiding document for Petaluma’s
General Plan and Climate Action Plan. The City also
received a Cool City Challenge program grant to help
neighborhoods become more planet friendly, disaster
resilient, and community rich by engaging 300
Petaluma blocks. Given those and other developments,
it was obvious that the focus of the DAT should evolve
to better reflect Petaluma’s present day needs in 2022
and to complement the continued forward momentum
of the preceding two years. Accordingly, the DAT
concentrated on creating a plan for achieving a more
equitable and resilient Petaluma through improving
mobility, increasing connectivity, creating 15-minute
neighborhoods, and decarbonizing the community. The
following report is offered in the public interest with
those goals in mind. We hope that it may serve as a
guide to implementation in the coming years.
• The review of dozens of existing plans and
background documents about the area.
• The observation of conditions in the area in order
to gain an understanding of Petaluma’s physical
framework, the issues facing the community, and its
opportunities.
• Conversations with resident experts and
stakeholders to benefit from their experience and
knowledge about existing conditions, community
values, priorities, and aspirations for the future.
• The application of their best professional expertise
in the public interest, using information learned
through the process and community priorities to
develop a set of strategies that respond directly to
the needs, values, and desires of the community.
