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PFLUGERVILLE DEVELOPMENT QUEST SERIES
- (2/19/02) Notes from Second PDQ Presentation --
- We live in a world that is emerging, no beginning and end, no boundaries or smallness.
- The more you tie together the fabric of a town the better it will be.
- We are not Austin, we are Pflugerville. We are distinct.
- ...get our act together our way and have the courage to dream.
- What if put things together in a slightly different way...the making of streets and
dropping in of buildings...connectedness is what makes a town.
- The more interesting you make a place the more people are prepared to walk...a good
place to come to.
- Pflugerville is about my home, about my yard, about the street I live on...you want it
to be friendly and personable.
- People tend to not like trailer parks or apartments. What about smaller lot sizes?
- It's about designing a town to show that it can be done well.
- Should places be old or new or just that make people happy?
- Grab more of the town back for the people.
- We want to have a place where we can meet and relax...put commercial around it...have a
place for main monuments...centrality...can be important and have dignity...Glueing of the
city back together.
- You could have edges and wedges or small places throughout the town...green place or
green wedges.
- Protect the land on the edges...define the town.
- Pay careful attention to signage...visually interesting...traffic
calming/narrowing...footp paths...hike/bike trails.
- Have a 90-day rule where you have to have something working (part) within 90 days.
- (1/24/02) Expert Advises Leaders, Residents to Build
City's Vision Together -- An expert on community planning and development addressed
residents and city officials during a meeting last week. "I don't know why you don't
have more people here," Dr. Don Sweeney from Texas A&M said in response to a
question about how to get people involved in the planning process. A professor of
landscape architecture, Sweeney was hired by city planners to talk about "Visioning
in Community Development".
"We nurture what we value," Sweeney said. "Do you love this community
enough to do what it takes?" His advice: plan the city intentionally and do it
together. "Let it take the time that it does. Keep talking about it," Sweeney
told the group of residents, city officials and staff from the planning department.
He presented the "ABC's of Community Development at the conclusion of his
presentation: Call a meeting and work with those who show up; Build and nurture
interpersonal relationships; Find how things are--conduct an assessment of your
community's strengths and weaknesses; Agree on how things should be--develop a shared
vision of the desirable community of the future; Develop a set of strategies to guide
decision-making throughout the community; Pick the "low hanging fruit" or
projects that are easy to accomplish quickly; Have a party. Celebrate success and do it
again. Have good food; Nurture a "process" orientation in which the process is
the most meaningful "product".
Develop a "dash board" or indicators for the community that are relevant and
that measure efficiency and effectiveness of the process. Don't stop. This is a race
without a finish line.
The next planning session is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19. The scheduled topic is
history of cities and urban planning. [Source: Pflugerville Pflag]
For Immediate Release
Media Contacts:
Clyde von Rosenberg, AICP Sandy Flora
Planning
Director
Public Information Consultant
City of
Pflugerville
512-990-8811
512-990-4370
sflora@texas.net
clydevr@cityofpflugerville.com
Pflugerville Development Quest Series: Future of Pflugerville Lies in Soul
and Heart of Active Community Participation
PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS, JANUARY 17th, 2002-- The City of Pflugerville held its first
Pflugerville Development Quest, (PDQ) series, Monday, January 14th, at City Hall, the
first of five monthly sessions designed to provide an opportunity for Pflugerville
citizens and City boards, commissions, and neighborhood associations to participate in
learning about the factors that shape Pflugerville's growth.
Keynote speaker Dr. Donald A. Sweeney, Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape
Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, delivered a high-impact
speech to an audience of 40 Pflugerville citizens, City officials, city council members,
board and commission members on the on-going visioning process in community planning as a
tool for making community decisions. "Call a meeting and work with those who show up
to develop a set of strategies to guide decision making throughout the entire
community. Pick the 'low hanging fruit'-start with some projects you can accomplish
and than nurture a process orientation which is the most meaningful product," said
Sweeney.
According to Dr. Sweeney, the ABC's of Community Development are:
- Build and nurture relationships.
- Conduct an assessment of your community's strengths and
weaknesses.
- Agree on how things should be--develop a shared vision of
the desirable
Pflugerville.
As an example of what Pflugerville can do in building a
healthy community building healthy communities, Sweeney cited the "Characteristics of
a Model Healthy Community (World Health Organization, Healthy Cities, Paper No. 1,
Copenhagen, 1986):
- Clean, Safe physical environment
- Stable, sustainable ecosystem
- Mutually supportive, non-exploitive community
- High degree of participation
- Basic needs met for all city's residents
- Access to wide variety of experiences/resources
- Diverse, vital and innovative city economy
- Encouragement of connection with past
Dr. Sweeney engaged listeners in an ongoing discussion of
issues that deserve a high degree of community participation. According to Cecilia
Galliano, a Member of The City of Pflugerville Economic Development Committee, and 1999
President of Creekside Neighborhood Association said the first PDQ session was an
enlightening process on how a vision in community development can become a reality.
"While I was listening to him, I felt that all the residents of Pflugerville need to
hear this man," said Galliano. "He helped me understand how growth works, how do
we tend to approach it, and how we deal with it as individuals and as a whole. The
reality is that Pflugerville is growing, and we all need contribute in a positive manner.
I love this city and my only way to give back to it is by informing myself on what is out
there, and this is why I have become an active citizen. It was valuable information to me
because it made me understand that in this vision, I am not alone. It comes from a
unifying force from all the citizens and their dedication towards that goal that will
make “an ideal city” come true," said Galliano.
Scott Winton, Mayor of The City of Pflugerville concurred
that the meeting was informative and encourages all citizens to participate in shaping the
future of Pflugerville.
"The January 14th PDQ meeting went very well. I think we had an eager audience that
appreciated and enjoyed Dr. Sweeney's talk," said Winton. "It is apparent
from the attendance and the discussion between the participants that there is a readiness
to help shape the future Pflugerville. I hope we can all come together, as recommended by
Dr. Sweeney, to point our efforts in common directions that achieve a shared vision,"
Winton added.
In addition to Pflugerville citizens in attendance, City Officials who attended the
meeting include: Mayor Scott Winton; Wendell Holloman, Council member, Place 3; Pat
McCord Council member, Place 2; David Seeker, Council member Place 4; Steve Jones, City
Manager; Charles Simon, Assistant City Manager; Karen Thompson, City Secretary; Clyde von
Rosenberg, Planning Director; Lauri Gillam, Finance Director; Angela Ploetz, Senior
Planner; and David Najvar, Assistant Planner.
The next PDQ meeting will be held Tuesday, February 18th at the City of Pflugerville City
Hall Pflugerville City Hall, 100 East Main Street, Pflugerville, Texas.
Mayor Winton encourages all Pflugerville citizens to attend and get involved. "The
next session in February will give us an understanding of how cities have become what they
are today and will show us that we truly have choices on what the Pflugerville of tomorrow
will be," said Winton. "We are
building Pflugerville one building, one road, one neighborhood at a time and if we want to
see a different Pflugerville begin building today, we must be aware of our choices.
Attendance will help us make a more informed decision," Winton added.
The next four sessions will be held on the third Tuesday of each month.
Topics for future sessions are:
- February--History of cities and understanding urban design.
- March--Transportation and economic development.
- April--Process of building a city’s physical
infrastructure.
- May--City programs and services and the governance process.
For more information about the Pflugerville Development Series contact the City of
Pflugerville Planning Department at 512-990-4370, or the City of Pflugerville web site, www.cityofpflugerville.com.
All five sessions will be videotaped and shown on Cable Channel 10 at Wednesdays and
Fridays @7pm* Videotapes will also be available at the Pflugerville Public Library,
102 Tenth Street, Pflugerville, TX 78660.
*A different set of information notes that the videos may be shown on Tuesdays and
Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.
Note: The above press release information is taken from
information made available by the city staff.
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Pflugerville
Development Quest Series will be held on:
January 14th,
7:00 p.m. City Hall
(Monday) February 19th,
7:00 p.m. City Hall
(Tuesday)
March 19th,
7:00 p.m. City Hall
(Tuesday)
April 16th,
7:00 p.m. City Hall
(Tuesday)
May 21st,
7:00 p.m. City Hall
(Tuesday)
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