Sponsors of The Grand Vision say its success turns on the kind of widespread participation the two-year project attracted to recent workshops in Traverse City, Acme (pictured here), and Interlochen. |
The six-county land use plan is a federally funded, yet locally based project begun in Octobet 2007. The goal is to produce a guide to the six counties by 2009. The ideas are being massaged by computer to create possible growth scenarios to guide the region for the next fifty years.
Last month's sessions focused on Traverse City, Acme, and Interlochen. Participants gathered in small groups with maps of their target areas. "They discussed different ways their communities could manage thorny growth issues like commercial, residential, and industrial development; transportation choices from bike paths to bullet trains; and farmland and other open-space preservation."
Avoiding sprawl, preserving the shoreline of Grand Traverse Bay and making downtown Traverse City more walkable were important topics.
Kurt Schulte, who works with the firm that is compiling the workshops' maps said he was impressed by the willingness of workshop participants to consider alternative modes of transportation. "I was blown away at the Traverse City workshop," Mr. Schulte said. "I came away with the sense that this is a very progressive community. People are very open to walking and biking and looking at other modes of transportation other than just the automobile."
from Michigan Land Use Institute, "Grand Vision Workshops Crack the 1,000 Mark", Feb 14, 2008
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid
Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Get Off The Couch
No comments:
Post a Comment