SUBJECT:
Title
Historic Old Town Outreach - Social Capital Exercise
Body
DEPARTMENT: Planning & Development
Department
PRESENTER(S): Sarah Nurmela, Director of Planning and Development
Josh Campbell, Senior Strategic Planner
First Name Last Name, Title
TIME ESTIMATE: 30 minutes
only required for non-consent items
POLICY ISSUES:
An update from Planning staff to inform Town Council of outreach efforts taking place in Historic Old Town.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Informational item only.
End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND:
During the Elevate Erie Comprehensive Plan engagement, Planning staff heard from Historic Old Town residents a sentiment of feeling overlooked in comparison to other neighborhoods. To better understand this perception, Planning staff intend to conduct a social capital exercise in the Historic Old Town Area over the coming months. The goal of this exercise is to better understand and get to know area residents and business owners with the hope of creating working relationships, building trust, and having a catalog of community stories.
Social Capital Engagement
The definition of Social Capital: the networks of relationships among people who live or work in a particular community, enabling the community to function cohesively.
The planned exercise for Old Town will focus on qualitative face-to-face and one-on-one interactions. Planning staff will attend various community hosted events throughout Historic Old Town, host and/or attend open houses and events, conduct community-member interviews, and other various forms of outreach. The result of this phase should include a catalog of the stories collected from area residents and an understanding of challenges and high-level desires. Knowing the challenges and high-level desires of the community will allow staff to make suggestions for next steps to present to Town Council. It is important to note that this exercise is not meant to serve as a source of engagement that informs specific items such as housing or transportation.
Evaluation & Next Steps
The next steps for the Historic Old Town Area are subject to the evaluation of findings collected during the social capital exercise. In alignment with the Elevate Erie Comprehensive Plan, there is a high-level assumption that a potential next step may be a Historic Old Town Neighborhood Plan. This is subject to change should the information collected show that there is a different, more targeted approach warranted. Findings and next steps will be summarized and presented by staff to Town Council upon the conclusion of the exercise.
COUNCIL PRIORITY(S) ADDRESSED:
ü Attractive Community Amenities
ü Engaged and Diverse Community
ü Prosperous Economy
ü Well-Maintained Transportation Infrastructure
ü Small Town Feel
ü Safe and Healthy Community
ü Effective Governance
ü Environmentally Sustainable
ü Fiscally Responsible
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Presentation