What do you want Lancaster city to look like in 15 years?

Should the city have more restaurants such as the Citronnelle or Pour; entertainment venues such as Tellus360; condominiums and apartments such as the Magnolia Place and the Lancaster Press Building?

Should it have more shops, galleries, artist studios and improvements in neighborhoods?

In 1998, business and civic leaders formulated a strategic plan that called for development of a baseball stadium, convention center, hotel and initiatives to encourage the arts and tourism.

With most of those goals met, the Lancaster City Alliance is leading the effort to develop a plan for Lancaster’s next 15 years.

That planning effort began in June and has already included 36 meetings with more than 200 business owners, group representatives and residents to get initial input.

Now, the planners want to share that information and get opinions from the public.

The first public meeting of the year-long process will be held Thursday, from 6-8 p.m., in Southern Market Center, 100 S. Queen St.

“We want to get their input on what we’ve accomplished so far,” said City Alliance President Bob Shoemaker.

The economic development strategic plan for Lancaster, dubbed “building on strength,” is focused on developments in the city’s downtown area, the Manor Street and New Holland Avenue corridors, and the area adjacent to the Lancaster Amtrak station.

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Sitting in on committee and focus group meetings last month were representatives of Mahan Rykiel, the Baltimore-based consultant conducting the $180,000 planning effort.

Mahan Rykiel has also begun working with Lancaster County Planning Commission staff to compile data. They will look at vacancy rates for city offices and stores, neighborhood housing stock, underutilized and developable properties and infrastructure capacity.

At the public meeting, Mahan Rykiel representatives will be giving initial impressions based on what they have heard and the data they have seen.

“It’s a good early report card of what an unbiased professional sees as our opportunities,” said Shoemaker.

And the planners will be looking for a reaction to their initial findings as they move the process forward, said Marshall Snively, executive vice president of the Lancaster City Alliance.

“This is paramount, as we need and want the support of the Lancaster community for this plan to succeed,” he said.

For people unable to attend the meeting, Snively encouraged them to complete a online survey, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CF3Q36R.

The public meeting is the first of several as part of the plan development process.

A final report is expected in May.