Civic Alliance Meetings Begin
October 8, 2003
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The Civic Alliance and City of South Bend is inviting you to attend outreach meetings beginning Oct. 28 from 6:30-8pm and continuing through December. We ask you to use your imaginations in forging how you'd like to see South Bend in twenty years. The meetings will be posted on flyers around town and on the city website and you can call 574.235.9475 for more information.
What kind of city do you envision? What kinds of services, transportation, green spaces, culture?
How the city develops should be up to its citizens and the more diversified the ideas, the better. We want to have a world class 'smart' city, so reach for the heights.
Check out some of the links on the city site to see what other cities have done and how they've approached solutions to their individual problems and needs....and desires. Cities like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco all had plans implemented fairly recently. Their successes came about because they had concerned communities who fought for them.
The first one for the 4th district (or Northwest neighborhood) will be held Nov. 5 at:
Robinson Center Meeting Rm
921 N. Eddy
South Bend, IN
Some sites to look over for planning ideas:
- American Planning Association
- Congress for the New Urbanism (take the Tour)
- Planetizen
John McKnight was one of the speakers for the American City Lectures held here. A description of his book Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets:
Across the United States, many communities are in trouble. In our cities, economies sputter, social ties weaken, and political power fades. But everywhere, creative local leaders are fighting back, rebuilding the neighborhoods and communities. And they are succeeding by starting with what they have. In the face of diminished prospects for outside help, they are turning first of all to their neighbors and to the local citizens associations and institutions that lie at the heart of their community.
This guide to what the authors call "asset-based community development" summarizes lessons learned by studying successful community-building initiatives in hundreds of neighborhoods across the United States. It outlines in simple, "neighborhood-friendly" terms what local communities can do to start their own journey down the path of asset-based development.
This book will be helpful to local community leaders, leaders of local associations and institutions, government officials, and leaders in the philanthropic and business communities who wish to support effective community-building strategies.
Click here to read the Introduction to Building Communities from the Inside Out.
St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN