our history

Of the Community
and for the Community

In 2012, a group of business owners, property owners and community leaders came together with the purpose of finding ways to improve downtown Modesto. Realizing that the incremental and fragmented management approach brought about through institutional silos was doing more to tear the fabric of downtown apart, than weave a beautiful community tapestry, the group set out to change this.

Adopting an inclusive and holistic philosophy, they engaged in a concerted effort to deconstruct the downtown management model and reframe it in a manner that would facilitate partnership. In doing so, they found success after success – from developing downtown economic development incentives, to installing multiple pieces of public art, to creating the first parklets in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

As their ranks swelled, it became apparent that the initiative had staying power, and a contingent of property owners from the group began working on the formation of a property-based assessment district that would provide a long-term funding source for the group’s efforts. In September of 2015, the assessment district was formed by vote of a weighted majority of property owners, and the group incorporated as the Downtown Modesto Partnership.