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September 14, 2005Planners seek local input on downtown developmentTours, public meetings set for this weekByRecord-Eagle staff writer Traverse City waterfront and downtown planning meetings: • Review images of waterfront ideas from around the world Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the City Opera House, 112 ½ E. Front St. • Take a walking tour of Traverse City with Dan Burden, executive director of Walkable Communities. Meet at 10 a.m. Friday at the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, 101 W. Grandview Parkway. • Sketch designs of how the waterfront and downtown should look with help from Michigan State University and University of Michigan design students. The session runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the City Opera House. Her snapshots and those of other volunteer shutter-bugs will be used by students from the University of Michigan as they develop a plan for the downtown and its connection to the waterfront. "I think it sounded like a great idea," said Schaal, who works downtown and captured the scenes for a city-wide planning effort. City planners are working with design students from U of M and Michigan State University to brainstorm a vision for the two-mile stretch of public waterfront and downtown. The city wants a comprehensive plan backed by the community that addresses what to build or not build along the bay. The planning push began in June with a community meeting. The photo survey by volunteers is one way university students have attempted to involve the public in the planning. Other opportunities abound on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when students from both universities return to gather more information about what residents like and don't like about Traverse City. Warren Rauhe, director of MSU's Small Town Design Initiative, said students will host a public meeting Thursday. There, they will show a slew of images taken of cities around the world and ask residents to say which would suit Traverse City. "The idea is for people to make the first step from words into images," he said. Also on Thursday, Lawrence Molnar of Michigan's Ross School of Business will report on the preliminary findings of surveys of property owners and residents. Molnar said the survey will help identify what kinds of public art or landscaping is wanted and how to improve access across Grandview Parkway. Friday, an expert on walkable communities will conduct a tour of Traverse City. Students will meet on Saturday with residents to sketch planning designs for the city. All of the sessions are open to the public.
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