Trains no longer run along the city's watefront, but it's a lively scene again.

Within the past two decades, however, this city of just 50,000 has managed to transform its river into a centerpiece for urban redevelopment and a model for progressive riparian restoration. It has raised close to $12 million for river and wetland projects, and now plans to raise millions more for a six-and-a-half-mile-long "greenway" that is already taking shape along the riverbanks. How could such a small city accomplish all that?

The short answer is, "You've got to have a plan," says Jennifer Barrett, who until October was Petaluma's principal planner for advanced planning. The longer explanation is a tale of inventiveness and perseverance, patience, an energetic and focused city staff, and a diligent search for common ground among people with diverse interests. "It took five years to do the planning," she says. "The plan was built by consensus, and as long and arduous as that process was, it worked." With a "good comprehensive plan" for the river's future in place, everybody from potential funders to volunteers to ordinary citizens had a clear idea of what to expect and could join in. Every step forward made the next step possible.

Much as rivulets feed streams and streams join to form rivers, the river restoration program was fed by many separate and independent efforts.
Read Petaluma's story in the Winter 1998–99 Coast & Ocean.

Bill O'Brien is an Oakland-based freelance writer with an admitted weakness for waterfront brew pubs.

Copies of the Petaluma River Access and Enhancement Plan (May 1996, $25) and the two-volume Restoration Design and Management Guidelines for the Petaluma River Watershed (July 1996, $50) are available from the Petaluma Planning Department, 11 English Street, Petaluma, CA 94952. Check the Conservancy site for a detailed chart of projects and funding for Petaluma's river and marsh restoration work.