Connecting it Together

The Connecting It Together chapter explains how Westfield’s vision, values, themes, goals, and placetypes translate into practical policies and recommendations that shape how the community grows and functions. It provides key takeaways from past and current planning efforts—such as the comprehensive plan and subarea plans, the thoroughfare plan, downtown redevelopment planning, parks and recreation planning, stormwater strategy, and the Grand Park area-wide master planning—to ensure continuity, avoid duplication, and prioritize investments that advance Westfield’s quality-of-life aspirations. The chapter emphasizes that “connectivity” is more than roads: it includes safe, multimodal transportation; integrated land use and development character; public spaces and shared community assets; and the infrastructure systems that link neighborhoods, jobs, destinations, and the broader region.

The chapter also traces Westfield’s evolution from a small agricultural town to a rapidly growing city shaped by annexation, planned unit developments, and major destination anchors like Grand Park, alongside ongoing downtown reinvestment and the need to thoughtfully plan township villages. It outlines strategic directions to diversify the economy (including innovation, flex industrial, and destination development concepts), expand housing choice and attainability through modernized zoning and “missing middle” options, and strengthen quality of place through parks, trails, recreation, and age-friendly community features.