Newark Master Plan Community Meetings

In case you missed a community meeting about the master plan - it was interesting and think it has the potential to be powerful it is actually implemented and not just discussed and discussed.

Note: I live downtown and went to the downtown meeting at the Library - so these might be skewed for this community and different for the others. Feel free to email us your community views from the different neighborhoods.

There are four key goals of the Master Plan (from their handout).
1. Jobs for Residents
2. Healthy & Safe Neighborhoods
3. A City of Choice
4. Good Governance

There will be 3 Rounds of the Master Plan (from handout):
Round 1: Nine Community meetings to gather firsthand information, ideas and inspiration (this just ended. notes to be shared online in August)
Round 2: Citywide working group meetings focused on citywide policy topics, such as transportation, or housing (starts in August/September)
Round 3: Return to communities to report back and agree on strategies and solutions to neighborhood specific problems. (winter 2011)

Some of the reoccurring themes in the downtown session were:
- Less crime, more policing and public safety - make people comfortable downtown
- Obtain quality retail businesses (no more $1 stores and rid of street vendors)
- Control traffic through city and keep flow with better signals (issues on 21 and Broad Street)
- Attract and evening/weekend crowd with restaurants and businesses open later and on weekends
- Make parks more attractive - with more lighting and events
- Do something with eyesores and abandoned buildings and lots - especially dormant historic buildings (ie. S. Klein and Hahne's)
- More trees to make city more breathable, friendlier and greener
- Bike lanes or create bike/pedestrian areas on weekends to bring people downtown
- Manage transportation within the city and create less costly parking alternatives (for retail/business customers to come in)

It was great feedback and constructive - but I'd like to see how things can actually get implemented.