Boulder To Seattle, Community Development
Dec 20th, 2007 by rlsorbe
Boulder is one of many cities in our country that seeks community input regarding design and development of infrastructures and services. From Vermont to Washington State, city planners and community members have joined with new and innovative concepts, initiatives, and programs for community design and development. Over a series of posts, I’d like to highlight approaches from other cities, and how we could link these approaches to Boulder.
First stop is Seattle, Washington. This city uses a community initiative and partnership approaches to instill voices and action within their neighborhood developments. Seattle has organized programs where communities are able to define themselves, engage in city planning, and take community development into their own hands.
Through city-initiated programs such as the Neighborhood Matching Funds, communities have the opportunity for neighbors to get together and make the changes they feel would improve their neighborhood. Based on the type of improvement you are creating, you would fit into one of different funding parameters; Large Projects Fund, Small and Simple, Tree Funds, and Outreach Fund. These programs are a great way to group people together to create organization, pride of environment and space, and instill components of self-help and sustainable community relations. These funds enhance healthier neighborhoods, and community planning efforts.
I’d like to link The Neighborhood Matching Funds to Boulder. How could a similar program work for our community? As Boulder is growing and developing it is crucial we have a strong inner-community connection amongst our neighbors. It is important to bridge the oldest and newest homes, parks and people within our neighborhoods, and create a cohesive partnership and pride amongst all members sharing a space.
Walking around Boulder I see widespread development and growth, both public and private, in our neighborhoods. I would like to see some of these development projects promote interaction amongst the homeowners, business owners, renters, designers, builders, seniors, and youth. The bike rack competition is a great example where a program like Neighborhood Matching Fund could play a role to benefit Boulder community at large.
The bike racks competition would work well because it demonstrates community involvement in all aspects of the design, development, and build processes throughout project. By having our Boulder neighborhood communities and individuals collectively behind the design, development, and installment process, we are instilling partnership, organization, and education bettering our community and creating a sense of pride in our end product. Additionally, the bike racks are a public display of this partnership, pride, and artistic merit created collectively by our citizens. By placing these Boulder specific designs in areas of our city, we will be helping to eliminate automotive transportation congestion, parking space shortages, and emissions in our city – creating a healthier environment.
I think Boulder could benefit from more community involvement, and partnership throughout our city neighborhoods. I would like to see citizens working together to make positive changes for the places they live and people that live in them.