I attended the South Philly GreenPlan meeting last night. I was very impressed with the process set up by the GreenPlan team. It was a refreshingly dynamic and engaging community meeting, one of the best I’ve ever been to, and lately I’ve been to plenty. The community meetings are designated for the planning areas drawn up by the Planning Commission. So people from different neighborhoods end up coming to discuss topics important to the whole group, as well as more specific neighborhood related open space issues. We were encouraged by Robert Allen, assistant director of The Managing Director’s Office, to think as creatively as possible about the future of green, open space in the city.

Neighbors then got to work, discussing their smaller areas (though still rather large- my table encompassed FDR Park to Washington Ave., Broad St. to the riverfront) and trying to prioritize their hopes for the future. While litter and safety problems came up, people at my table agreed on three or four basic issues for our area: we wish to preserve the open spaces we already have, and figure out how to add to them; their maintenance needs to be funded, perhaps by requiring developer fees go to open space projects; we need to make the entire area more pedestrian-friendly and build connections to the river; there needs to be continuous community input and education on a variety of issues.

Yes, it’s a tall order, and I have nothing but respect for the folks who are running the meetings. Last night’s meeting was facilitated by people from a variety of city agencies and organizations, including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, the Office of Housing and Community Development, the City Planning Commission’s Office of Strategic Planning, the Fairmount Park Commission’s Office of Volunteer Services and the Office of the Managing Director. It’s a hard thing they’re doing, trying to listen to the cacaphony of individual community voices and find the major themes. But it’s a hard thing they’re doing well. Their model is good, one that other city plans would do well to adopt.

If you haven’t been able to attend a GreenPlan meeting, take the time to fill out their online survey- the issue of preserving open spaces in Philadelphia could not be more important. GreenPlan is evolving a comprehensive view of the city that involves us, the people. That’s a first, folks. Don’t squander the opportunity to give your thoughtful two cents about the future of open, green spaces in Philadelphia. If you want to read more about the plan, check out my article.

Finally, if your civic association would like to conduct a more comprehensive GreenPlan meeting for smaller neighborhood areas, contact the project via info@greenplanphiladelphia.com. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has prepared kits so neighborhood groups can conduct meetings and become even more involved. Do it soon, though, because they plan to start collating the information over the winter months.