Live Blogging the Charette, Feb. 23, 2011
Feb 23Greater Stonehenge area overview
Agenda
Stonehenge Clubhouse, 7p – 9p
1. Opening of the Charrette
2. Discuss agenda & format of Wednesday’s charrette
3. Groundworks: design alternatives and evolution of each
4. Bernard: performance
5. Main discussion: concept alternatives, new ideas
6. Doug: moving forward, synthesis, next step
Live blog (complete)
It’s Wednesday night in the Stonehenge Community Bldg., and we are starting the second night of the two-night charrette.
Works in progress
Proffers
Review
7:50pm Trails, nodes and community. Edible landscapes. Front porches. Parking lots as parkable courtyards. Co-housing, common rec rooms. Or not.
8:20pm The big picture.
8:30pm Bernard’s soliloquy on peace.
Congrats on night one of the charrette!!!
Feb 23I heard it was very interesting and thoughtful. I so wish I could have been there! I share my neighbors desire to be connected to trails and downtown. Let’s do more good work tomorrow!
Live Blogging the Charette, Feb. 22, 2011
Feb 22Agenda
Stonehenge Clubhouse, 7p – 9p
1. Opening of the Charrette
2. Review goals, agenda, format and expectations
3. Presentation by Groundworks of projects, ideas, examples, possibilities
4. Opening inspiration performance
5. Design and Discovery Workshop, Empowering the People
6. Synthesis and discussion about next day
Live blog (complete)
It’s 7:10pm and snacks & coffee are in order. Stay tuned for more updates. Today is Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011. We are in the Stonehenge Community Building, outside Charlottesville, Virginia.
7:20pm Intro on goals. Attending are Allwood & Stonehenge residents, some new faces. Mainly new faces! Richard & Will are here from Groundworks, as well as Mandy from Charlottesville Community Design Center. Douglas is introducing.
7:25pm Richard discusses the history of the neighborhood (briefly), and what is a “place”. A new concept for this place, which grew up in various pieces. Change is afoot: Meadowcreek Pkwy., developments to the north, Doug’s property. So now is the time to jump in a think about amenities, community, a path to the parkway trails, a place to sit & have coffee. What would the neighbors like to see? Should there be a neighborhood center or not? If so, where and how to get there? Or do we want our privacy. Who pays? Developers, the county. Access to roads are a negotiating point for developers.
7:35pm The room is set up with round tables, maps and large blank sheets for drawing. We are watching a slide show of maps and photos of the area, all put together by Bernard.
7:45pm Latecomers are welcome, and several have arrived. We are having an open discussion of property values as Stonehenge reaches its, presumably, classic age. We have a lot of trees, more than many neighborhoods. What are the common areas? Community gardens have been discussed from time to time. Trees management is expensive. Proximity to downtown is a benefit.
7:50pm Bernard from Presence Theater Troupe will now present an inspirational spoken word performance. Be creative. Free associate. Run with it.
8:00pm Richard stands up to calm the dreamy mood and transition into work at the round tables. Three questions are on a projector slide, as discussed in his talk above: 1. neighborhood center; 2. amenities; 3. Doug’s property.
8:20pm Each table – there are two, we have collected into two groups by drawing some tables together – sounds active & engaged. Much discussion about the current geography, trails that were and may be again. Dog walkers are knowledgeable. The large small scale (big) topo maps we are gathered around are filling up with colors as the facilitators reflect with colored markers what people discuss.
8:25pm Charlottesville is full of thinkers. A roomful of them in any case. Concerns now coming up: density, space away from traffic… Now the tracing paper comes out.
8:35pm How many Charlottesvillians does it take to change a light bulb? One more than you have. It’s always a work in progress.
8:40pm Green, energy neutral community building? Neighbor from Paris suggests density in one area to free up green space. The topic of trail connection to Meadowcreek Pky and the Rivanna Trail comes up again and again. The Pkwy construction blocked a previous trail over the creek, even though it is on this side of the Pkwy. A sort of community organic garden existed at one point.
Almost 9:00pm More ideas than written here, which are mainly from one table. Time to wrap up?
9:05pm One table has arisen. The other is discussing Arcosanti & Paolo Soleri.
9:15pm We’re done for tonight, see you tomorrow at 7pm. Thanks everyone.
Charette Invitation, Feb. 22 & 23, 2011
Feb 22
See: The full-sized announcement (PDF, 280K).
Thank you for your support and attendance Feb 1 at our community meeting at the Stonehenge Club House! By all reports it was a huge success. Nearly 50 neighbors, speakers and invited guests were in attendance. The vast majority of those gathered agreed they would like to proceed with a community design charrette.
FAQ
Feb 21Event Reminder: The Greater Stonehenge Community Design Charrette
Tues & Wed; Feb 22 & 23, 2011, Evenings, 7 – 9 PM, Stonehenge Club House
See details below!
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:
Q: Must I be photographed, video taped, and / or quoted, if I come to the Event? I really appreciate my privacy and don’t want to appear on the internet…
A. We will have a table, which will be photo, video and quote free for those wishing privacy.
You may come to the event and know your privacy will be respected, if you’re willing to stay at the media free table.
Q. Would you post an areal view of “Greater Stonehenge” and where is the 6.5 acre property, which has been for sale?
Greater Stonehenge map (click to enlarge)
A. This photo fairly well shows the area we are considering “Greater Stonehenge”. The push pins show the homes of most of the residents who attended our first meeting (the colors are random). The area outlined in Red, which looks a little like a big bird is 470/480 Rio the 6.5 acre (total) parcels.