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JOIN OUR LIST
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| RIVER CITY SAUNTER |
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Mark you calendar for
PSG's First Annual River City Saunter
Sunday, September 21st, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.: Smart Growth Bus Tour led by Rachel Flynn and Daniel Moore
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.: Local Food and Local Beer Celebration with live Bluegrass at Legend Brewery. Don't miss the silent auction on transportation alternative items and local food products! Join as we celebrate a growing coalition of organizations, individuals, and businesses banding together for Smarter Growth.
You'll park and ride...and walk...and learn...and eat locally...and think regionally...and rediscover Richmond.
Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased online. Tickets are limited!
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| SUPPORT PSG AT 10% NIGHT AT QUE PASA |
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PSG Night at Churchill's newly renovated
restaurant Que Pasa
Come sit at the table with PSG on Thursday, August 14, between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and 10% of your bill will enable Partnership for Smarter Growth to continue our important work ensuring smarter, sustainable growth in the Richmond region. Learn more about walkable, livable communities, better models for development, PSG's mission, and where you fit in - and find out what's happening in the Smart Growth movement in Richmond. Meet other concerned citizens, and enjoy delicious Puerto Rican and South American food and be part of Churchill's exciting revitalization. 623 North 25th Street.
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| SAVE OUR CITIES |
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Read Neal Pierce's insight into how St. Louis has emerged from the deep population losses and scattered suburban sprawl circa 1997 to become an "All-America City" again. Richmond can learn from what three chief forces were behind this transformation. A group called Downtown Now! focused on working with the Missouri legislature to pass a landmark state tax credit, to make possible "historic preservation - not just a bunch of new mega-structures." Missouri and Illinois legislatures, the voters of St. Louis, two adjacent Missouri counties, and four in Illinois, funded a bi-state regional park district in 2000. The new River Ring project is a 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways "designed to encircle and connect the entire region." Finally, a community-based art collaborative, St. Louis ArtWorks, places the work of youth and artists for sale in public places. Truly, "it takes a whole region - cities and suburbs working as a team - to produce the most glowing results."
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Greetings!
Thank you for subscribing to Partnership for Smarter Growth's Enewsletter, the Regional Scoop. Now more than ever the Richmond region is waking up to the need for citizen involvement in how and where we grow, to ensure intelligent infrastructure decisions and higher quality of life for all citizens.
Read Monday's Richmond Times Dispatch front page article about PSG and our role in the shaping of vibrant, equitable, and connected communities: With growth comes interest in planning: More in Richmond region are looking at Comprehensive Plans.
PSG is here to provide you with the tools necessary to effectively engage in this vital process. We cannot encourage a shift to more sustainable, smarter growth without you. |
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| Locality Highlights: Richmond, Henrico, and Powhatan |
RICHMOND:
Downtown Master Plan: Victory in Round 1
On Monday, July 21st, over 60 PSG members and Envision Richmond supporters sported "Pass the Plan" stickers as they observed the Planning Commissions's work session and eventual unanimous vote to pass the Downtown Master Plan. Nearly 1000 petition signatures in support of the Plan sent a clear message to the Commission that the public is ready to hold on to our claim in the future of Richmond. If you would like to join Envision Richmond, and work to ensure that City Council vouches for this community vision, please email psg@psgrichmond.org. Note PSG's role in the process in the Richmond Times Dispatch article: Downtown Master Plan Sent to City Council.
Mayoral and City Council Candidate Forum
This election season, help PSG ensure that candidates know where smart growthers stand on growth-related issues, from balancing development and conservation along the riverfront to prioritizing revitalization and infill development - and of course, the Downtown Master Plan. Send the questions you want answered our way, and please consider volunteering to help make this happen.
HENRICO:
Envision Henrico Engaged in Comprehensive Plan Process
Concerned citizens from Henrico have connected with one another to take an active role in the Vision 2026 Henrico Comprehensive Plan and ensure better public process in the creation of this powerful document. Envision Henrico's next meetings are Monday, August 25th, and Monday, September 22nd, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., at the fellowship hall at Sandston Presbyterian Church, 13 North Confederate Avenue. All committed to a sustainable future for Henrico are welcome. Email Sheila for more information.
POWHATAN:
Taking steps toward balanced growth
A Board of Supervisors member has taken the lead in shaping the future of Powhatan by placing 51 acres in a conservation easement. See Amid development, tract in Powhatan will be protected. If you would like to become involved in the citizen group Powhatan Tomorrow email PSG Steering Committee member Pam McCune at mcb@vcu.org. Look out for their forum on Land Use and Transportation this fall. |
| Regional Opportunities: Capital Region Collaborative, Protecting GRTC Routes |
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Provide input on the direction of the Capital Region Collaborative
Richmond's report card, the Crupi Report, opened may eyes: we have all the pieces, but we need to fit them together. The answer is the Capital Region Collaborative, the group formed by the Greater Richmond Chamber to enact the recommendations of the Crupi Report. This is your opportunity to be part of this region-wide collaborative effort to strengthen our communities. Click on the link and sign up to ensure that you can help shape this region!
Weigh in on protecting GRTC's bus routes from elimination
With gas prices on the rise, and more and more people thriving in walkable, transit-oriented communities, eliminating GRTC's bus routes is not what our region needs. Email Richmond's City Council Members and Henrico's Board of Supervisors to indicate your support of investment in public transit. GRTC needs federal, state, and local support, and most of all, regional cooperation and increased ridership. So try transit, and celebrate GRTC's recent distinction as #1 Transit System in North America by the American Public Transportation Association. For more information on the route endangerment, see GRTC seeks to eliminate 9 routes in Richmond, Henrico, and Bus-route plan assailed. |
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PSG Training Opportunities |
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The Grassroots is Always Greener: Smart Growth Advocacy Training Program
Fulfilling our mission to equip citizens and elected officials with the tools they need to become effective advocates for Smart Growth, PSG is proud to sponsor a Region-Wide training program for Effective Advocacy, on October 4th, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at Centenary United Methodist Church in Richmond. Hot button issue in your locality? Not sure how to leverage your constituency power? Want to learn more about smart growth applications on the local level? Learn from the experts, with Glen Besa from the Sierra Club, Martha Wingfield from Coalition for Hanover's Future, and other smart growth gurus. Meet other concerned and active citizens from across the region, and take what you learn directly to your community.
Download the application form at www.psgrichmond.org, and submit via email (psg@psgrichmond.org), fax (225-1902), or mail (530 East Main Street, Suite 410, Richmond, VA 23219). $10 registration fee, payable by check or online.
Center for Progressive Leadership's Voter Mobilization Training
This 2-day, 16 hour interactive training will reinforce core skills for effective voter engagement offering Intermediate and Advanced tracks. Sessions include Volunteer Recruitment and Planning, Online Organizing, Targeting, Direct Voter Contact and many more. Visit www.progressiveleaders.org/mobilization to register. August 16th and 17th at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden- Education & Library Complex (ELC), 1800 Lakeside Avenue. |
Volunteers/Commute/Quote of the Month
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Volunteers of the Month
PSG would like to thank Tom Phan with the Department of Community Development and Helen O'Beirne with Housing Opportunities Made Equal for their generous donation of time and expertise to the cause of citizen engagement in our community. Both presenters at PSG's recent "Envision Richmond Seminar: Your Role for a More Vibrant River City," Tom and Helen captivated more than 40 participants eager to learn more about the Downtown Master Plan and how to most effectively advocate for a more cohesive, connected Capital City.
Creative Commute of the Month
VHDA gets smart and goes green...and so can your workplace! PSG Steering Committee member Richard Taylor informed PSG that the Virginia Housing Development Authority has implemented a four-day workweek, Monday - Friday, 8:00-6:00, with extended daily hours for July and August to conserve energy and help staff mitigate the impact of the rising fuel costs. All unnecessary lighting is turned off on Fridays, and associates turn off their lights as well as their computer monitors when out of their offices for extended periods of time. Creative and stress-reducing!
Quote of the Month
"Sprawling development and state and local transportation programs that spend most taxpayer funds on roads has left most people with few transportation choices...People in Virginia drove over 80 billion miles in 2005 - farther than the distance to the sun and back every day. The amount of driving we do rose almost three times as fast as population between 1980 and 2000." - Trip Pollard, in The Virginia Review, "Virginia's Growth Challenges - New Directions for the Future" April 08. | |
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The grassroots movement for smarter growth starts with you. Thank you for staying connected and taking action.
Sincerely,
Sheila Sheppard
Partnership for Smarter Growth |
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