I sat on the Lowry Corridor advisory committee for the Bottineau neighborhood and was also a member of the citizen group that selected the developer (I was the only one voting "no" for the developer selected because of what I perceived as a poor citizen participation model in the proposal.)
I generally support the plan concepts, but I also share some of the concerns expressed by Bruce Shoemaker and others about some aspects of the Lowry corridor plan. In addition to the BNSF viaduct, the Lowry Avenue Bridge is another barrier to smoother traffic flow, besides being a safety hazard and an environmental danger to the river because of its open grid road bed. There are no plans to replace this aging structure. I do believe that a better model for citizen participation exists, but it is hardly, if ever, employed. Citizens should be involved way before a plan is conceived so that those closest to the problem can help set the project parameters. If we want to use the Lowry Corridor planning process as a rallying point for better citizen participation, I'm all for it. Having said all of that, however, I know that few people attended the public meetings. I live within a block of Lowry, yet I was the only resident on my street that attended any of the meetings. They were publicized in the local press and through letters to neighborhood associations. I insisted at the outset that each property owner within a block of Lowry be sent a letter informing them of the planning process. I wrote at least two articles for the monthly Bottineau newsletter and attended a neighborhood meeting to explain in detail what was being promoted for the corridor. I asked neighborhood people to contact me directly if they had questions or concerns (only two did so). Frankly, the Bottineau residents showed little interest in the plan even though I emphasized that houses and businesses along the south side of Lowry would probably be eliminated. Residents have to make an attempt to attend the meetings early on in order to have any meaningful participation in the planning process. Numbers do count. The northeast portion of the plan will not be implemented for several years, so there is time for changes to be made if residents make their voices heard. Fran Guminga Bottineau _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
