Woodstock Downtown Development Plan

A Plan for sustaining the Downtown’s role as the heart of the City and ensuring that future generations will be the beneficiaries of sustainable growth and economic vitality.

The City of Woodstock has taken a number of steps in recent years to sustain and improve its downtown. Building on this momentum, Fotenn created a Downtown Development Plan (DDP) that coordinates, prioritizes, updates and supplements the recommendations of existing plans and policies. Organized by 5 Strategic Directions, and 18 Key Tactics (Action Items), the DDP provides a detailed action plan and timeline for implementation. The DDP will inform future decision-making processes as successive Councils rely on it to ensure future downtown investment is well-informed, justifiable, and part of a larger plan.

As part of the process, an integrated Downtown Cultural Plan was created to assess the City’s cultural assets, programming, and facilities, and to provide a long-term approach to the City’s investments in arts, culture, and heritage.

The DDP was grounded in extensive engagement with local residents, business owners and other stakeholders, and included multiple focus groups, public workshops, and online engagement activities. To enhance public awareness and support for the process, Fotenn created a comprehensive branding package (i.e. logo, templates) celebrating the City’s commitment to ‘Renew Downtown Woodstock.’

Location Woodstock, Ontario

Client City of Woodstock

Size 70 Hectares

Date 2018 – 2020

Key Team Members Matt Reid Evan Truong

Project Tasks Project ManagementPolicy FormulationPublic ConsultationAccessible (AODA)Graphic Design

Location map of Woodstock.
Community consultation session. Community consultation session

The Downtown Development Plan was rooted in close collaboration with the City of Woodstock, Oxford County, stakeholders and local residents.

The 10 most common things we heard during our consultation.

Based off our consultation, we established a vision for Downtown Woodstock that reflects the desired long-term character of the downtown.

Successfully achieving the vision for Downtown Woodstock will require clear Strategic Directions to prioritize and focus new investments in both the public and private realm.

Mockup of Woodstock Downtown Development Plan.