Economic Development Meeting

The town of Chapel Hill sought input on economic development strategies from the community this pass week. After hearing the rules of this presentation I felt more like a kindergartener being taught how to share for the first time. The meeting we attended was held in the center of an upper class, self contained community complete with schools, dinning, entertainment and recreation, medical care, and office space. The individuals at the meeting ranged from 30 something white collar workers to middle aged white collar workers. The input from the community may have been helpful in some aspects but at other points it was geared, by the mediators, toward the mere wording of the sub-goals. A draft of these goals which can be found at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=2022 didn’t follow through with the overall objectives of the development strategies. After listing several general statistics about the town (both positive and negative) which these goals were intended to address the community clearly noticed the lack of categorical statistics. The praised divers, creative, and social conscious make up of our town seemed to get lost as the presentation continued. Granted this was an Economic Development strategies meeting and not a Human Rights strategies meeting but, the main objective states:

Our goal is to build a more sustainable economy for the 21st century by creating a healthy balance among employment, housing and commercial development. In all of our development efforts, the Town of Chapel Hill places importance on the built & natural environment, community character, transit orientation, social equity and quality of life for its citizens.