Vacaville Downtown Specific Plan

Downtown Vacaville serves as the city’s historic and cultural core, and the Specific Plan strengthened its economic, social, and cultural fabric while supporting a diverse mix of housing, local businesses, arts, recreation, and civic life. The Plan reinforced Downtown as an inclusive place for residents, workers, students, and visitors across generations and income levels.

ESA worked with the City of Vacaville to prepare the Downtown Specific Plan, Downtown Connectivity and Streetscape Design Plan, and associated environmental documentation. Downtown Vacaville encompasses approximately 300 acres and is designated as a “Transit Town Center” Planned Development Area. The project will build upon Downtown’s unique history and setting to establish a framework that will expand housing choices, strengthen economic vitality through a diverse mix of commercial and entertainment uses, and promote pedestrian, bicycle and transit activity.

The Specific Plan emphasized placemaking as a central strategy, reinforcing Downtown’s pedestrian-scaled Main Street, historic character, and locally owned businesses while introducing public realm improvements, public art, and enhanced mobility.

As lead consultant, ESA coordinated the planning effort with a multidisciplinary team, including screening land use alternatives, developing urban design and streetscape concepts, analyzing infrastructure constraints, and conducting a community engagement program that included several dozen outreach meetings and online engagement opportunities.

Development prototypes and implementation strategies were prepared to support reinvestment, respect historic character, and minimize displacement, including completion of an anti-displacement analysis to help preserve affordability and economic diversity.