Final Community Meeting for THINKAlex Initiative
New Date for Final Community Meeting!
Citizens Invited to Review DRAFT Plan and Share Ideas
The City of Alexandria invites all citizens to attend the final community meeting for Alexandria’s THINKAlex Initiative.
The date of the Final Citywide meeting has changed to October 14th allowing more time for additional development of the Unified Development Strategy (UDS) and Land Development Code Choices Report (LDCCR). The final citywide meeting is an opportunity for Alexandria residents to get involved in the THINKAlex process and learn first-hand about Resiliency planning, directly from the people who deliver them.
“We want to ensure all members of the public who are passionate about Alexandria are empowered to create a better community,” said Mayor Roy. “We believe now is the time to focus even more on how community planning is conducted in Alexandria and THINKAlex provides this platform — considering disaster preparedness, housing, land use, and transportation planning elements as a way of supporting positive community development.”
What’s THINKAlex?
THINKAlex is a bold and innovative community-driven initiative focusing on creating effective, longterm, strategies and solutions for transportation, land use, housing, zoning, and a revision of the municipal development code.
This initiative is a significant step forward facilitating a participatory design process fueled by ideas and contributions from the Alexandria community. Since its inception, residents across Alexandria shared their thoughts and opinions about the future of the City in a series of neighborhood and citywide meetings. “THINKAlex is based on Alexandria’s greatest asset: its people. This final community meeting allows residents to provide critical input and review the plan’s vision and actions to implement the plan with proven 21st century solutions,“ said Mayor Jacques Roy.
What’s different about this meeting?
The October 14th Citywide meeting, the eleventh and final THINKAlex meeting in the City’s Resiliency Process, will present the finished Resiliency Plan to the public and engage residents in laying the foundation for its implementation, concluding the eighteen month planning and community engagement process.
Citizens will have an opportunity to learn about the THINKAlex Resiliency plan. Drafted in large part by their neighbors, the Plan will be presented in summary form, highlighting Housing, Transportation, and Land Use Plans and the community knowledge critical in making the Plan a reality.
Importantly, this meeting will also engage participants in the process of updating the City’s twenty-five-year-old land development ordinances, a process directly informed by the THINKAlex Resiliency Plan. During Neighborhood Planning Area meetings last month, residents provided invaluable input regarding future development in the City. During the October 14th meeting, participants will have an opportunity to see and interact with a draft of the updated City code.
What does the plan hope to achieve?
The THINKAlex Resiliency Plan deeply integrates community knowledge and engagement with technical planning expertise. This plan considers “resiliency” in the context of the total community rather than simply disaster preparedness. Though planning for preparation against natural disasters is an important element resiliency planning, the THINKAlex Plan addresses elements of resiliency as experienced everyday by residents of Alexandria – transportation networks, land use, housing, future growth, and even municipal development ordinances.
The result: a realistic series of action items for realizing the vision of neighborhoods and the city as a whole.
How can I help?
Get Involved! This final THINKAlex meeting is an important opportunity for residents to see how their work has been honored and how they can play an active role in the ongoing implementation of the THINKAlex Resiliency Plan. Any Alexandrian who is interested in the continued improvement of the City won’t want to miss it!
FINAL CITYWIDE MEETING:
DATE: October 14, 2013
WHEN: 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Alexandria Convention Hall, 915 Third Street Alexandria, Louisiana, 71301
Follow THINKAlex on Twitter and Facebook. For more information, visit www.cityofalexandriala.com.
