Downtown Pismo Beach began in 1881 with a wharf and hotel on Main Street as founder John Price mapped the city’s first streets, including Price, Pismo, and Main. The hotel on Main Street grew into the El Pizmo Inn, and by 1924 a tent city and dance pavilion covered the area that includes today’s plaza and parking lot. W.W. Ward and the Pismo Beach Pier and Amusement Company built the pier and seawall there, and downtown became known for tourist-serving attractions such as hotels, a saltwater plunge, a skating rink, a bowling alley, a dance hall, and an amusement park with a Ferris wheel. After severe storm damage to the pier in 1983, the city built the four-diamond pier within two years and began the boardwalk stretching from Addie Street to Main Street. The pier was completely reconstructed in 2018, and in June 2014 the Pismo Beach City Council adopted a downtown strategic plan that guided redevelopment based on the city’s history, values, and aspirations. Since then, downtown improvements have included replacing colored concrete sidewalks with pavers in 2018, adding bike racks and trash and recycling cans, developing a downtown logo, and installing wayfinding signs to improve traffic, pedestrian flow, and access to amenities. In October 2019, reconstruction began on the pier parking lot, pier restroom, and pier entrance to create a new plaza with expanded public space, decorative pavers and planter areas, site furnishings, artwork, shade structures, playful amenities, a new beach access structure, and a play and interpretive area for children.