City officials laid out a vision for downtown Madison Wednesday at the Overture Center as the city launched its development of a comprehensive Downtown Plan.

Staff from the city’s Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development focused on preserving the fabric and character of downtown Madison, as well as offering recommendations to ensure the downtown remains the thriving heart of the city.

Nearly 20 years have passed since Madison’s last comprehensive downtown planning effort, “Downtown 2000,” was adopted in 1989. Although the plan pushed forward downtown progress in many areas––including the renovation of State Street­­––Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the downtown needs a fresh diagnosis.

“It’s time to have another look at it and to adjust to the new realities and take advantage of all of those positive influences that we have,” Cieslewicz said. “The fundamentals of downtown Madison are terrific.”

In 2004, the “Downtown Advisory Report” explored areas for development in the downtown and culminated in Madison’s “Comprehensive Plan,” adopted in 2006.

Wednesday’s meeting marked the beginning of the planning task force’s development of specific strategies in the coming year through city meetings, boards and public forums. The Downtown Plan will build upon recommendations from the earlier plans concerning housing, transportation, economic development, natural and cultural resources, and land-use.

“We are starting a process that will unfold over the next year,” said Bill Fruhling, one of the principal planners for the Downtown Plan. He added that the Downtown Plan will provide “the next step in the evolution of downtown.”

Among the more substantial recommendations of the Downtown Plan include expanding retail on King Street, East Wilson Street, the State Street District and the Capitol Square. The Plan also includes developing future commuter rail stations and laying the groundwork for a commuter rail system; and expanding on-street parking.

Fruhling said some of the problems the ongoing planning process would tackle are the water quality in lakes, creating affordable housing and dealing with the homeless and transient population in downtown Madison.

“There are a lot of issues and a lot of changes that have occurred in the downtown since our last comprehensive planning effort for downtown,” Fruhling said.

Mark A. Olinger, director of the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development said the Downtown Plan aims to maintain the downtown as a center for government, education employment and culture. The question the Downtown Plan will address, Olinger said, is “How do we maintain a vibrant, dynamic core when so many of other things around us are going in a different direction?”

In the end, Olinger said, it is the people of the city—the fabric of the downtown—that matters most.

“While we think about these sometimes as individual projects, I suggest to everybody that cities are still about people, still about interaction, still about how we deal with each other on a daily basis.”