There were about 50 people attending the second community meeting to discuss the strategic plan for Tremont at St. Augustine's last evening.

Matt Schmidt from City Architecture spoke first, after being introduced by Colleen Gilson. He gave a brief overview of the past meetings and told us about the direction of this meeting, which is focused on strategic investment [I'm not quite sure what he meant by that though]. He then gave some statistics regarding the brick and mortar aspects of Tremont and the geographical and block club segments of the area. Apparently only 81 people responded to the community survey.

Paul Volpe from City Architecture spoke next and told us that the meeting was meant to result in initiatives and action on topics like Safety and Security, Greenspace and Beautification, Transportation and Infrastructure, Residential Development, Commercial Development, Historic Preservation and Code Enforcement, Seniors and Youth Needs, and Marketing the Neighborhood.

Four Starting Goals for the Evening:

Goal 1: Establish a clear yet spontaneous identity that represents the social, cultural and physical characteristsics that are uniquely Tremont. [Presented by Jon Boylan] Sort of balancing the flavors of the sub-neighborhoods within Tremont.

Goal 2: Embrace the fact that in urban neighborhoods that are both established and progressive, economic and social diversity should be celebrated. [Presented by Scott Nagy] Find a way to use the diversity but still work together. See #1 it seems like.

Goal 3: Create an attitude and environment within Tremont that encourages interaction between block clubs and neighborhood districts to unify and connect the community. [Presented by Sandy Smith] Unity again. Make sure people know that Duck Island is part of Tremont!

Goal 4: Recognize that we must work hard as a community to retain existing residents, attract new residents and to sustain the identity, unity and diversity of the neighborhood. [Presented by Sam Catania] Keep the unity and make it comfortable. Quality of life.

4 different groups focused on each goal. Instead of going to the group I was assigned, I floated through all the different ones.

I took some notes from each group. Tons more past the jump. Please leave comments!