Norwalk wants to create a bustling downtown, with thousands of new homes, shops, restaurants and more.
The Gateway City has hatched a Heart of Norwalk plan to revamp its historic downtown through new zoning to spur the construction of more than 3,000 homes and 173,000 square feet of commercial uses in buildings up to five stories, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
The 615-acre plan, now under environmental review, is bounded by Imperial Highway to the north, the 5 Freeway to the east, Rosecrans Avenue to the south and Pioneer Boulevard to the west.
A new Downtown Norwalk is expected to take 30 years to complete. The draft specific plan targets three areas for redevelopment with a mix of housing and commercial uses.
They include the historic Front Street District, which parallels Firestone Boulevard at its intersection with San Antonio Drive; a Triangle District at the northern edge next to Imperial Highway; and a Town Square District at its southern edge at Pioneer Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue.
In addition to spurring new development, the plan would reconfigure Front Street as a one-way boulevard, with curbside parking and expanded sidewalks.
It would also reconfigure San Antonio Drive to include a linear park for cyclists and pedestrians between the Town Square, Front Street and the Norwalk Civic Center.
And it would create a Norwalk Railway Corridor Trail next to a BNSF railroad right-of-way with a greenway with art and cultural exhibitions.
The proposed rezoning along commercial boulevards would allow more housing, with densities between 40 and 80 homes per acre.
Redevelopment has already started within the Heart of Norwalk perimeter, including an affordable housing complex underway on Foster Road, just south of Front Street, according to Urbanize. Another housing development from Primestor is in the works nearby.
Norwalk has also considered plans for several other large housing developments, including a partial redevelopment of its 13-acre Civic Center; a 32-acre, 770-unit housing and hotel complex at the site of a former state youth jail; and a 209-unit apartment complex on the former site of the Norwalk Indoor Swap Meet.
— Dana Bartholomew
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