Ramsey Resident - 2007 - January/February

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RalDsey 3 Please join us! We are a group of Ramsey citizens who almost two years ago began meeting to discuss the city's future. This diverse group focused on how to preserve what is good about our city. Over the next year, the group explored what was happening in other cities, learning about ideas such as the New Urbanism, form-based codes, and walkability. Many communities that had applied these con- cepts evoked the small towns some of us remembered growing up in. When the group outlined some of these ideas for council and staff a year ago, their positive response resulted in the award of 2 grants from the McKnight foundation. We call the process Ramsey3. It seeks to involve the entire community in a three-part visioning process, not merely a small group. Ramsey1 consists of four public forums and staff/council workshops with nationally-renowned experts in transporta- tion, innovative zoning, regional intersections and community ecology. Ramsey2 is an innovative community-wide visioning meeting. Ramsey3 will prepare the working document that will guide the new comprehen- sive plan based on the vision articulated by Ramsey 2. Rl: Critical Issues Forums 7:00 pm - Alexander Ramsey Room Dates Listed Below Ramsey Municipal Center 7550 Sunwood Drive NW February 8, 2007, Forum One: Regional Intersections. What is Ramsey's role in the region and how will market and regu- latory forces influence the Twin Cities region? Speaker: Dan Marckel, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs February 22, 2007, Forum Two: Community Ecology. How can we build capacity with citizens, policy makers, and staff to understand the importance of Ramsey resources and create ways that natural resources and development may form true ecologi- cally sound neighborhoods? Speaker: Douglas Farr, Farr and As- sociates, Chicago. March 29, 2007, Forum Three: Innovative Zoning. What are alternatives to traditional zoning codes that have been success- fully used in other communities? Speaker: FaIT and Associates April 12, 2007, Forum Four: Transportation Alternatives. How can we incorporate a variety of transportation choices in- cluding biking and walking trails as well as mass transit a com- munity transportation system. Speaker: Dan Burden, Glatting Jackson/Walkable Communities, Orlando, FL Website: The project website: www.ramsey3.org contains details of each of the three parts. 6 R2: Open Space Technology (OST) We invite you, your friends and neigh- bors to a community gathering on the evening of May 4 and all day Saturday May 5. For this session, we will use the responses about the best of Ramsey to generate a vision of Ramsey's fu- ture. People around the world have used the OST process, which allows participants to create their own agenda and decide the results. Ramsey3 marks the first time it has been used by a city in the Twin Cities area. So not only will we be pio- neering a new vision for Ramsey but also a new way of empowering all citizens. We invite you to join us and your neighbors in starting the process by identifying what YOU think are the five best things about RaIllsey, the things that Ramsey should always be, always have, always do. They could be organizations, policies, places, ideas, events, institu- tions like schools, even your favorite place in the city to eat, shop or just take a walk. If you would write them down and send them or do this through the website, www. ramsey3.org, (which also will post results) and through the R3 suggestion box in the new municipal center. We urge you to get your friends and neighbors involved in this effort, as more public involvement means a more successful process. R3: Outlining the New Comprehensive Plan The framework for the city's future de- velopment. will follow the recommendations made during the Open Space sessions. The alternatives outlined during the forums will provide the com- munity with innovative ways to iIllplement this vi- sIon. R3 Steerin2 Committee Ralph Brauer, Planning Commission Joe McDilda, Environmental Policy Board Sarah Strommen, Ramsey City Council Will Thompsen, Town Center Task Force Patrick Trudgeon, City of Ramsey www.ci.ramsey.mn.us