I am proud to introduce this Comprehensive Plan, Lancaster’s first one since 1993. Together, we crafted “Our Future Lancaster” for and by our community. The community engagement effort informing this plan is the City of Lancaster’s most intentional outreach work to date. City staff, the Comprehensive Plan Committee, and partners helped us reach over 14,000 residents. We connected across neighborhoods, spoken languages, and economic status and showed up to meet people where they were. And this plan is better because of it.
Lancaster is a city on the move. Lancaster has topped the best places to live, visit, and retire in recent years. While these accolades feel good and are well deserved, they leave out much of the story. We are a vibrant, diverse city thriving in many ways, and we face significant challenges like the availability and cost of housing, persistent barriers to quality jobs, and more. These issues are not unique but became more apparent as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the nation.
Within this Comprehensive Plan, you will find a vision for a stronger, more equitable Lancaster. It presents ambitious plans for promoting a diverse, affordable housing stock. It shines the spotlight on areas primed for new economic growth. And perhaps the most visionary piece of this plan is a shift in how we envision the Conestoga River. The plan shows us a future for the river as a remarkable asset. Our river, from recreation to ecology, has boundless potential if we unlock it.
The plan’s goals will take all of us to accomplish. The City of Lancaster is positioned to step forward with the sustained support of our residents, nonprofit partners, municipal neighbors, and leaders across sectors including business, government, and faith communities. And I hope elements of this plan will both inform and inspire the strategies and investments of community partners, big and small. Now, let’s get to work.
DANENE SORACE
Mayor, City of Lancaster
