The General Plan
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Institution of Learning

Every city has its vision, goals and strategy. That’s why, they need to make some plan in order to set policy guidelines for every future action and to work for particular results. This document describes implementation steps and direction of city development. The general plan of city is its constitution and policy guide for the future. I have chosen a city of Fresno in California to analyze its general plan and how they are dealing with problems. This community is facing some noise issues, especially traffic sound. It might look like not so important problem in the fast-growing world, but often it can be annoying and even harmful for mental health. That’s why, it is useful to know how to deal with such problems. Furthermore, issues of noise are widely spread in Fresno, because there are three airports, four state highways and also some major streets, carrying large vehicles and truck traffic. It is important to note that industrial facilities in the city also generate noise from equipment. Due to the general plan, the goal of the community has been made in relation to this issue. They want to promote a city of Fresno with safe and comfortable streets and to have a lot of opportunities to relax. A vision is to make Fresno an ideal place for living, working and relaxing or to improve the quality of life there. In the general plan there are a lot of solutions to deal with noise problems. For example, state and federal standards control a level of noise from transportation facilities, but also such facilities might be located on distance or replaced out of town. What’s more, they have to use soundproofing construction activities such as sealed buildings or masonry walls. Another interesting moment is typical sound levels, which are described in a very useful picture. According to the Fresno general plan, the level of traffic noise is influenced by three factors such as the volume of the traffic, the speed and the number of trucks in the flow of traffic. Moreover, government analyzes the current situation of this problems and creates a new method of building roadways in the future. And what’s more, all this recommendations are provided in the general plan. In this chapter, there are single parts of different issues such as traffic noise, railroad operations noise, airport noise and maps of existing noise contours. On the other hand, let us compare the Chico general plan. It is a city in California. Honestly, this document looks more useful and detailed. For example, the table of contents is more helpful. There are 13 chapters in the Chico general plan, but in the Fresno there are 12 chapters with Implementation part, which is absolutely important. So, Chico’s plan is very clear. I want to analyze how this city is dealing with the same problem as the city of Fresno. A big chapter called Noise is described in the general plan. In this section, the main issues are identified and how they are addressed. The noise chapter is divided into small parts, which characterize different aspects of this issue. What’s more, you can find a glossary for better understanding. There are two airports, some major roadways, Enloe medical center heliport and The Union Pacific Railroad in Chico. Moreover, the vision of the city is dedicated to the noise issue. This city might be free of excessive noise disturbances in 2030. The goals and policies are defined in relation to this issue and what is really interesting that every goal and policy are described and have their implementation action. It is very useful to define every aspect and possible moment. The noise problem is regulated by standards, control measures and programs. Furthermore, this standards might prevent noise from different industrial and urban facilities. Moreover, new projects are described with all improvements and there are a lot of analytical information in tables, which demonstrate how to reduce traffic noise levels. What’s more, they create a new construction activity to decrease disturbance to noise-sensitive users. One of the most useful solutions of dealing with this issue is partnership in noise reduction. For example, consultation with public and private organizations to encourage noise reduction and also to attract companies to invest in alternative railroad warning systems. To sum up, this two general plans are at the same time similar and has few differences. I would like to note that the Chico general plan is more clear and accurate, because of easier navigation. You can download the Chico general plan in one file, but Fresno’s plan you can open every chapter and download it on the website one by one. Moreover, both cities have an implementation information, but the city of Fresno has a chapter, where these actions are described for different problems. The Chico general plan defines goals, vision and policy for every chapter or every issue, but the Fresno general plan has general information. What’s more, both of this plans are useful and meet their aims. I have analyzed how they are facing the noise traffic problem, so this two cities are doing almost the same actions, but using available resources for their territory. Moreover, the Chico general plan represents a lot of analytical information, which is super detailed. So, if I had a chance to choose the best plan, I would vote for the Chico general plan. But there is no big difference between them.

References Chico general plan. City of Chico. Adopted April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.chico.ca.us/document_library/general_plan/documents/_CompleteGP_Adopted.pdf Fresno general plan. City of Fresno. Adopted December 18, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/DARM/AdvancedPlanning/Downloads.htm