Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - WelcomeMagazine_08.09 - Index

bRenTWooD
City of Brentwood
‘Heart of Plenty’ moves into the future
Transition is the name of the game in Brentwood these days, as years of doubledigit
housing growth came to an abrupt halt amid the mortgage and financial
crisis sweeping the country. While the expectation among city leaders had been
that a shift from residential to economic growth was on the horizon, the speed with
which it overtook the city required a quicker adaptation than planned.
The city, however, has been able to respond, maintaining a balanced budget and a
healthy reserve of 30 percent of its annual operating budget. Some growth-related jobs at
City Hall were trimmed, but the police budget has remained intact. Also, the authority
and practices of the Code Enforcement Department were enhanced to keep the city
looking good in the face of empty houses resulting from the real estate slump.
Meanwhile, the first phase of the biggest retail project in the city’s history, the Streets of
Brentwood, opened in October. The first 300,000 square feet of upscale shopping, dining
and entertainment – Rave Motion Pictures operates a 14-screen, all-digital theater at
the Streets – will eventually grow to 400,000, adding more than $1 million per year to
the city’s sales-tax coffers.
Planning for the new, $75 million downtown civic center continues, although city
officials will wait for the economy to stabilize before committing to bonds or beginning
construction on the majority of the project. Improvements to the downtown streetscape
portion of the project are moving ahead, however, in an effort to keep the city’s
traditional commercial core viable in the face of increased competition.
Agriculture continues to play an important part in Brentwood. The City Council
continues to work with the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust on acquiring easements
that will keep nearby farmland in agriculture in perpetuity. Winemaking and organic
farms, as well as the area’s famed U-Pick farms, continue to help the Brentwood area
serve as the transition zone between the suburban areas to the west and the breadbasket
of the Central Valley.
Among the many events the
City of Brentwood provides
its residents are the Iris
Festival, the Starry Nights
concert series, and the
CornFest, which offers kids
a whirl on carnival rides.
Welcome! The Magazine of East County 2008-2009