Tuesday, 12 July 2011
community | Stephen Key
A Mighty Wind V - Squeezing out some Tuscaloosians
I think Tuscaloosa’s hiring of BNIM to help guide the city to a master plan for rebuilding is going to prove a good move. That is, if more people participate in the process.
The meeting the company sponsored June 30 seemed communal and congenial, but it lacked good participation from some segments of the community. At all events, I hope the open community involvement was a precursor to the overall agenda for the city’s recovery strategy.
If you go online to townhall.tuscaloosaforward.com, you’ll be able to make a comment. You’ll also see a long list of ideas and comments related to them about rebuilding preferences. It seems everyone contributing on the site wants what’s best for Tuscaloosa, but that, of course, includes their pet projects and causes. Some want Forest Lake and older Cedar Crest to remain single family residential areas, a suggestion likely resulting from fears of the 30,000 and growing enrollees at the University of Alabama who swallow up near-campus real estate for student rentals. At the time of the mighty wind though, those areas were already inhabited by large numbers of students. Stories abound, including some of my own, about students being extremely helpful in the immediate aftermath of the storm and caring deeply about the plight of all Tuscaloosans.
At least UA has been proactive in helping students find suitable housing.
more...
No comments:
Post a Comment