The vision for Plainfield's future is in your hands today.
The long-awaited planning process for a transit-oriented future for Plainfield development kicks off today with an all-day workshop (fancy word, charrette) beginning at 9:00 AM at Washington Community School.
On hand will be local officials (including Councilors Storch and Burney, whose brain child this project is), Rutgers and NJIT profs (who hold the consulting contract) and -- if you come -- loads of community residents and business people.
As Councilor Burney outlined at Thursday's Ward 2 town hall, this is the leading edge of a process which, if successful, will develop a plan that could be defined within the next year and adopted soon thereafter by the Council and Administration.
The only guarantee you will have of having a say in the final outcome is to take part.
Get my drift?
PLAINFIELD VISIONING WORKSHOP
9 AM - 3 PM Today
Washington Community School
427 Darrow Avenue
(Parking available in the Spooner Avenue lot.)
Residents and business owners are invited to join with local officials
and a team of Rutgers and NJIT faculty and students
in re-imagining Plainfield's future
with a focus on the Main and Netherwood Stations
and the Western rail corridor
FREE
Lunch provided
-- Dan Damon [follow]
Posts
3 comments:
Such an interesting day Dan..and it was a pleasure to finally meet you!
- I will say this, it was a pleasure to be involved with such a large group of people who all had the 2 words, "FUTURE" and "PLAINFIELD" being spoken non-stop. If only we could capture that hope and bottle it up for those lacking vision at the helm of the USS Plainfield!
But, on a positive note...I heard scuttle butt that the new C-Town is going to be bigger than average....."Well, we're moving up, moving up, to the sky, to the sky, to a deluxe C-Town in the skyyyy"
Thumbs up to this forum and all who helped put it together. It was a valuable experience for all of us who care about this city and have an interest where it is going.
Thumbs down to Assemblyman Green and Mayor Robinson-Briggs for coming late and interrupting the presentation with their typical innanities, hanging around for a few minutes, and then leaving.
I wonder if development will come, and will it come without the usual campaign contributions to these two?
Dan,
The students delivered a great presentation. They were very thorough, and it was clear that they studied the town very carefully--they knew all the buildings and structures, and their collective dedication and commitment to this project was inspiring. I stayed through to the bitter end (although I skipped the chicken--lol) 3:00 pm, and hung around a bit afterward to chat with some of the faculty and students about their work. I was there for 5 and a half hours and was a bit exhausted afterward, but the students were there longer, and they seemed energized even at the end! Ah, youth! The two areas that I was able to give some input on, the downtown TOD and the Netherwood TOD, led to a very inspiring and productive engagement on the part of community residents. One of the best parts of the day was when all six groups got to see the results of what everyone else came up with. The Plainfield West presentation, which focused on the Clinton Avenue area, was thrilling to see. For those who were not able to come out or stay for more than an hour or two yesterday, there will be more of this in the weeks to come. Some of the work has already been put up on YouTube. Here is the one to Plainfield West--exciting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnlaoYwGzhg
We all gave our email addresses and info yesterday, and will be receiving the PowerPoint results. See below for a description of the project from NJIT.
Best,
Rebecca
According to NJIT: "NJIT graduate architecture students are developing how to improve retail and residential areas near two rail stations on the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line in Plainfield this semester. Both stations will experience increased usage with the completion of a second tunnel beneath the Hudson River, the Access to the Regions Core project (ARC).
The primary geographic focus of the project will be the areas surrounding the City's two existing stations—Plainfield's Downtown Station, and the one at Netherwood. The students will also consider the area surrounding a closed station in the city's West End. While the study will examine the impacts of future transit-oriented development on these areas, it will also consider the impact of any changes on Plainfield's downtown, its neighborhoods and its unique regional setting."
Post a Comment