Colleagues,
 
In the summer of 2011, the City submitted a $5 million "Prop 84" grant to transform the Richmond Greenway.
 
This particular Prop 84 grant application is awarded by points -- and the majority of points is based on the quality of the applicant's efforts to reach out and engage local community residents. For this grant, the State is looking for a "bottoms-up" approach: they want local residents themselves to deeply participate in both envisioning the space and selecting its specific recreational features.  
 
Knowing that Richmond had a chance to secure this $5 million grant, a collaborative of virtually every community group doing "green" work in Richmond came together in partnership with the City in May 2011 to organize and plan the community outreach effort for this Prop 84 grant. The community outreach effort was supported by a rapid-response, entrepreneurial, visionary $50,000 grant from The California Endowment.
 
The result: the "Festival of Ideas" - two DESIGN TENTS set up on the Richmond Greenway all day for eight consecutive days to gather input from residents who live within a 1/4 mile of the Richmond Greenway. The DESIGN TENTS were staffed by local residents who surveyed over 800 other local residents to create a voice for what the community wants on the Richmond Greenway.
 
As part of their grant review process to consider awarding the grant, the State asked us to re-stage the DESIGN TENTS on Tuesday, December 6th.
 
As the State visits in the afternoon, we plan to set up the DESIGN TENTS early in the day and invite city staff and key stakeholders to drop by and see the process.
 
WHY YOU SHOULD COME:
* learn the results of what over 800 local residents want to see on the Richmond Greenway
* meet and talk with local residents who conducted the surveys
* see renderings of residents' visionary design for the site
* foster communication between city staff and local residents

This was an amazing process of community engagement and I encourage you to make your way out to 16th and the Greenway to see what unfolded. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you feel may be interested.

We hope to see you there on Tuesday!
 
Chris Chamberlain
Parks and Landscaping Superintendent
City of Richmond Public Works
510-231-3073 office
chris_chamberlain@ci.richmond.ca.us

PROP 84 PLANNING PARTICIPANTS
Amahra Hicks - community activist
Bicycle Art Salon
CBEC
Community Health for Asian Americans
Cycle / Lillie Mae Jones
EarthTeam
Eco-Village
Gompers Garden
Greenplanning - Al Green 
Groundwork Richmond
HEAL 
Contra Costa Public Health Dept. - Nancy Baer  
Opportunity West
Pacific Institute
Pogo Park
Rails to Trails
Richmond Main Street
Richmond Spokes
Richmond Youth Media
Urban Tilth
The Watershed Project
Parks and Landscaping - City of Richmond
Recreation Department - City of Richmond
Arts and Culture - City of Richmond

 

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