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Urban Planeteers...it's time to step up!


atlrvr

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I'm heartened by the positive reaction so far.

My initial thoughts so far is that there would be no legal association between this new group and Urban Planet, but would rely on Urban Planet for "brand name" support and the forum to be a mouth-piece to the community.

One of the first major decisions would be to decide if the group is a non-profit entity 501.c.3 or not. While the 501.c.3 status certainly would help attract donations, it is apparantly significantly more complex and would require greater structure and oversight. I will check out Archiham's suggestion of having a 3rd party manage it, which might be the easiest way to get it rolling, and then apply a more self-governing structure at a point in the future. I've also received notice of possible gratis legal services to form the entity, but if there are any lawyers lurking here, I'd appreciate further advice.

Also, we obviously will want to meet at some point. I'm think about coming down to Charlotte in late October or early November for a couple of days.

I'll create an administrative email account within the next week, and set up a mailing list to all those who are interested in participating.

Lastly, while I envision the group to be wide reaching in scope, a single project should be selected as an initial priority. The project should be ambitious enough to gain credit, yet attainable. The Queen Park sign is certainly a possibility, but I'm open to all suggestions.

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Thanks for your leadership Atlrvr. I do personally like the Queens Park sign ideas.

An idea I just had would be working with streetscape on Brevard, since this seems to be a relatively new topic of discussion. What I was thinking is sort of like a Hollywood Star sidewalk, but instead incorporate plaqs, or stars, or embossed bricks for example, and possibly lay bricks for side walks and intersection pedestrian crosses. Here we can recognize those in the community, lets say. Try and bring a relavince to history- past, present, and future of Charlotte. This could be done anywhere in Charlotte, really, but Brevard just came to mind. Maybe the city would be willing to donate the sidewalks and save money in the long run. Instead of hiring a company to pave sidewalks, the sidewalk land can be donated and with all of us UPers and people from the community can lay the brick work, or whatever it may be. Just another idea to ponder on.

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I agree that we should have a meeting soon coordinated with ATLVR's schedule. We should aim before the holidays swamp us. If a mailing list is created those that can't make the meeting will still be kept in the loop and before we get together we toss around ideas and then narrow it down. There is a UP Cafepress Store. We could all order tee shirts...

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The city does offer neighborhood matching grants. People generally use these to add sidewalks and plant trees, etc. It may be possible to finangle something for anywhere in the city, based on donations from a more dispersed association.

I've often wished we had some better benches at bus stops. Most of them have no benches, and attract trash too because there are no trash cans.

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Agreed with Andy...There are many people chatting here because they all share a common plight...the Charlotte community is and will remain unaware of all of these great ideas unless it is brought to them......constraining great things to a computer screen is ok for awhile, then it must be realized that in order to continue to make Charlotte a great and beautiful city with a zillion things to offer new people, and the existing families, then these ideas need to be brought out into the open and people must be educated.

All the talk of new projects and smart cars and boring cities and sustainability is not something heard everyday, except for here....except for among you all. Picnics and parties and crawls and meetings and voices shouting out loud will get Charlotte moving. It's all that we can hope for, right?

Shout out to Jon Bon! :good::good:

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BOA announced today that Charles Bowman will be the Charlotte and NC Market President. He will serve as the bank's face for charitable giving and community activities in Charlotte and throughout the state. Perhaps this could be someone to involve and something to really get the ball rolling financially.

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If we are to be serious about the betterment of our community, the first step is acknowledging our commitment. If everyone is willing and interested, send me a private PM with at least an e-mail address and I will gladly compile a list of active participants.

I have been waiting for something of this magnitude to take effect on this board, I knew it was only a matter of time. Cheers all the way around!

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I think one of the things we can do is host and sponsor design charrettes to discuss future projects. I was the president of CSCA (the Charlotte Society of Communicating Arts) and we never had a problem finding people to host our events. We could meet at local architect firm's offices, the Charlotte Observer, the Mint and places like that.

We could have a series focusing on the design direction of various areas around Charlotte and invite representatives from the planning department and local developers to talk about the future direction of urban design and connecting our urban fabric together. It would be really good if we had an overall focus for the series and then scheduled sessions to meet about a particular facet of that.

Mass transit, greenways, parks, connecting the street grid, pedestrian and biking improvements, gentrification, crime...there's no shortage of topics.

If we invite the press or involve UNCC we could get some real momentum going behind this.

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Queensguy06 has volunteered to set up the email list, so I'm handing that responsibility off, and let him coordinate how to get it put together.

My intent hasn't been to assume the head leadership position of the organization, but to rather give everyone a kick in the ass to get it going, and to provide as much assistance as possible. At this point, I'm not sure if there is a need for a singular leader at the moment, and my remote location (at least for the near future) would make it difficult to lead a group that is supposed to have a physical presence.

I am very interested in being their to kick-it off, and I'll try to figure out my exact schedule so that we can plan our first meet-and-greet. If we go in the 501.c.3 direction, we may be required to have a board, but establishing structure (or lack thereof) sounds like a good topic for a first meeting. I'll come with a list of organizational options for us.

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I'm thinking that one way to get involved is to simply get educated and attend as many public meetings as possible. Just by showing up, we can make a huge difference. At every meeting I attend, it is always the same group that shows up. We know each other by name. In some cases, we've become the best of friends. Regardless of whether we agree or disagree, we're all there for the same reason: we give a damn. Design charettes, public meetings for rezonings, informational meetings dealing with transit (both roads and mass) are all ways to change the face of our city. The best part? They're all free.

Another idea (depending on your views of the organization and what it does) is to attend a workshop given by the US Green Building Council on LEED. One course in particular, LEED 101, would be a great way for all of us to learn the nuances of green building and what it can do for our community and world. The more people know about LEED, the better equipped we are to place pressure on the powers that be and change the way we build here in the Charlotte region. Workshops are not free, but they are informative and worthwhile.

Whatever is decided, just the fact you're all showing an interest is exciting. And atlrvr, get your butt out of Boston and back to where you belong. We need you down here!

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I'm thinking that one way to get involved is to simply get educated and attend as many public meetings as possible. Just by showing up, we can make a huge difference.

Another idea (depending on your views of the organization and what it does) is to attend a workshop given by the US Green Building Council on LEED. One course in particular, LEED 101, would be a great way for all of us to learn the nuances of green building and what it can do for our community and world. The more people know about LEED, the better equipped we are to place pressure on the powers that be and change the way we build here in the Charlotte region. Workshops are not free, but they are informative and worthwhile.

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How about the lobbying for a cap on the south end of 277 that was discussed earlier this summer? We could raise awareness and then maybe try to start a fund for some artwork etc. to place in the park or open space. I think this both raises awareness for good causes (connectivity, more open spaces, etc) as well as may help to put an impact on the future of uptown Charlotte.

Any thoughts?

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Alright everyone, where are you?! Of the 25 or so people that indicated they were interested within this very thread, I have only received PM's with an e-mail address from about 9 or so. Neo has put together a great domain listing for us, so feel free to either PM me with an e-mail address or send an e-mail to [email protected]. We need to get things rolling, but our first step needs to be communication!

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