At yesterday’s Kids Creek/Commons neighborhood meeting, civic pride was on full display. It’s pretty impressive that a group of neighbors agree to give up part of a beautiful Sunday afternoon to talk about community issues.
President Chris Lange reported and sought feedback on a number of neighborhood topics. Including, but not limited to:
- Planning for a social/block party (July)
- Neighborhood garage sale (June 19)
- Potential for some enhanced street lighting.
They also gathered to hear a presentation by URS Engineering representative Chris DeGood on the current designs being developed for the bayfront plan(PDF). URS and it’s partners were selected to engineer and design the concepts developed in the Your Bay, Your Say. During the month of May they and the city are making the rounds before the final product is delivered on June 21 (dates/locations below).
They bayfront presentation was well received and there weren’t too many comments. There seemed to be wide support for the project. A pedestrian crossing and beach improvement at the end of Elmwood is perhaps be the most immediate improvement for the Kids Creek hood.
What residents in this neighborhood are really concerned with is Division St.
To my surprise, there was a high level of acceptance for the current concept. Certainly, there were the normal concerns about the impact of roundies on this or that type of traffic; however, the bottom line, that was expressed by several of the participants, was they agree that something bold needs to be done and further delay is not acceptable. The safety benefits of roundabouts made a major impact on many and it was understood that roundabouts are going to continue to be proposed in the region precisely because of the safety benefits.
There was also obvious frustration with the city commissioners for not taking a lead on the concepts presented; it was expressed, that up to this point, a majority of the commissioners have seemed willing to hide behind the public vote on parkland instead of looking for the best option for the corridor. Everyone was in an agreement that modeling is needed of the options (something the commission will vote on a tonight’s meeting), but the neighborhoods are looking for the commissioners to use their access and informed judgment to make a decision. They are asking them to lead.
8 1/2 Street
What was a point of unease yesterday was the proposed 8 1/2 Street that remains part of the solution for Division St. To say the least, it is not a desired road and any and all other options need to be considered before a high level of public acceptance will occur. Still, what was encouraging at yesterday’s meeting was the level-headed and informed discussion. Despite initial hesitance, there is an understanding for the reasoning of the proposal. It’s something I’m still trying to understand, and will address in a future post, but it is encouraging to see a community discussion taking place in a civil, well-intentioned matter.
More Open Community Discussion Needed
What I pulled away from yesterday’s meeting is a revived sense that level headed, informed discussion is something that is, at times, sorely missing from many community issues. Our online public forums, public meetings and on a few of the talk radio stations are more vehicles to make conclusive statements that may or may not be well informed. To be clear, I’m in complete support of people expressing their opinions in any form. Go for it; I certainly am.
However, the true test of someone’s perspective is how it holds up in a room full of your neighbors when you are face to face. What I’ve noticed out of this type of civil discussion is that the best ideas tend to rise to the top. We need more of this type of interaction.
I’d like to see more open space, public discussions hosted by the city, community organizations and, perhaps, the Grand Vision. These don’t need to be highfalutin events. We just need simple open discussions with a room full of equal partners with a wide-set of concerns, backgrounds and levels of understanding. This could be a facilitated group discussion, or more self organized groups of 8-10 people, focused on specific topic, like roundabouts.
- Whose in?
- Where can we meet?
- Whose making cookies?
_____
Many of the neighborhoods have had or are having meetings in May. There is one more official neighborhood meeting, Old Towne, but contact your neighborhood president to get the date for the next meeting. Or, suggest a new meeting.
Upcoming meetings where bayfront plans will be presented and discussed:
- May 20, 7 PM: Old Towne Neighborhood, St. Francis Church, 1025 S. Union
- May 18, 7 PM: Recreational Authority, County Cmmn Room, Gov Center
- May 19, 7 PM: Planning Commission/Parks & Recreation, Cmmn Chambers, Gov Center
- May 21, 8 AM: DDA, Commission Chambers, Gov Center
- May 24, 12 Noon: Traverse City Kiwanis Club at Traverse City Elks Club, 625 Bay St.
- May 24, 7 PM: City Cmmn meeting, Commission Chambers, Gov Center
My own neighborhood, North Traverse Heights the first week of the month. We came away with a Facebook group page (admittedly, not a huge FB crowd in the hood). Central met last week, and was one of the first groups to be introduced to the bayfront design currently being engineered. It’s understood that they also had a lively discussion about reverting 7th and 8th Street back to two-way streets (more later on that).
NOTE: I serve on the bayfront steering committee through the parks and recreation commission.
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But, it also reminds me of many possible, very public, strategically placed uses for colorful, durable, sticky strips…
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