Downtown Concord Atmosphere, Appearance Enhanced By New Program

CONCORD, CA — The city of Concord is ready to welcome residents and visitors to the downtown area for summer concerts, dining, shopping and fun.

Those who visit the downtown area Thursday for the kick-off of the city's four-month Music & Market concert series may notice the downtown area is looking particularly sharp. A new program to enhance the downtown area was implemented last summer through a partnership with the nonprofit Todos Santos Business Association.

It is called the Downtown Concord Welcome Program and it provides a day porter and a security officer acting as an ambassador. The program also includes pressure washing for the sidewalks, streets and public parking garages of the downtown area. A fresh coat of paint polishes off the subtle improvements.

Concurrently, the city has implemented a new garbage and recycling program and will soon be adding more security cameras and lighting.

"The goal of the programs is to promote a welcoming, clean and safe environment for visitors frequenting Todos Santos Plaza and the surrounding businesses, many of which struggled financially due to lack of foot traffic during the pandemic," said Justin Crossley, TSBA executive committee member and owner of The Hop Grenade.

Crossley speaks about the program in this video:

The day porter attends to designated routes within the business district to pick up trash, clean graffiti, and wipe down park benches, tables and trash cans.

The ambassador patrols the parking garages, Todos Santos Plaza and the downtown business district by foot, bicycle and vehicle. This officer is uniformed and unarmed and carries a marked identification badge and cell phone. Through nonconfrontational techniques, he displaces and discourages inappropriate behaviors, with notable success in the public parking garages.

Pressure washing services are conducted monthly on popular pedestrian pathways and sidewalks of Todos Santos Plaza and the surrounding streets. This helps supplement the maintenance work being performed by the City’s Public Works Department.

"The program has proven to be and continues to be successful," said Concord Mayor Edi Birsan. "We appreciate our partnership with the downtown businesses that have made our community more attractive and desirable to visit. Our visitors are taking notice and returning in greater numbers."

In 12 months, the day porter has collected and removed 347 large trash bags of debris and scrubbed countless public touch and contact points.

The ambassador’s presence has been identified by business owners and visitors alike as enhancing the atmosphere of safety downtown. The Concord Police Department has also expressed its appreciation for the ambassador's work downtown.

The increased maintenance is having a positive effect. The park, plaza, parking garages and surrounding businesses are looking tidy and inviting, and the city's downtown corridors projects have enhanced the look with new landscaping —including bioretention areas for stormwater runoff — decorative pavers, streetscaping and roadway striping.

The Downtown Concord Welcome Program was funded by a $458,000 grant from the city of Concord using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and an additional $50,000 grant from the Brenden-Mann Foundation. The city has amplified that investment through investing in maintenance and improvement programs.

This city invites community members to come and enjoy the enhanced downtown area Thursday for the first concert of the summer which features Cajun and Zydeco artist Andre Thierry. See the complete concert lineup here.