One of the most appealing factors that encouraged me to sign up for Community Planning Workshop was the opportunity to work with Oregon communities to help solve real problems. Therefore, having spent 3 weeks learning the details of our project, Ashland Sustainable Transportation, and the dynamic community we would be working with, my team and I were itching to get out, hit the road, and see what it is that draws those 400,000 visitors to Ashland, Oregon every year.
Our day started out with a tour of the city of Ashland, including a drive along the city’s main streets and a walk around the downtown area (although I should not neglect to mention the great lunch we had at Ashland Food Co-op beforehand, nor the delicious natural lithia spring mineral water we all tried). We then met with Mike Faught and Bill Molnar, who work with Ashland’s Public Works and Community Development Departments, respectively, and are serving as our primary project contacts.
The highlight of our trip was getting to meet with our Project Advisory Committee (PAC) for the first time. The committee’s 23 members were handpicked by the Mayor of Ashland, and includes representatives from the Planning Commission, Transportation Commission, and local businesses.
Our main task for this meeting was to introduce the PAC to several parking management strategies that could potentially be implemented as solutions to Ashland’s transportation issues. Each of us made a poster highlighting one of the strategies, which included education, wayfinding, regulation, and transportation demand management (programs designed to get users out of single-occupancy vehicles). After splitting into five groups, the PAC members rotated through our stations, where we discussed examples of how each strategy has been successfully used in other communities, and subsequently, if there were any issues or opportunities for using them in Ashland.
Overall, I feel we got valuable feedback from this process. It is really motivating to be able to work with a group of people that are so engaged and committed to the project and the community as a whole. The committee members had a wide range of experience in working with transportation and parking matters, and were able to give us very constructive and practical insight into Ashland’s needs.
Based on how our first meeting went, I look forward to continuing to work with the PAC as our project progresses. Our next meeting is scheduled for March 5, and we have eagerly begun preparations for it. This time around, we will be presenting the results from the first round of surveys, which gathered perceptions about downtown use. With more responsibility, we are even more excited for the next meeting, as it should turn out to be quite the learning experience!
About the Author: Amanda D’Souza is a first year Master of Public Administration student at the University of Oregon. Calling Tucson, Arizona home, she received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of St. Andrews in 2010. Since then, she served a term with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, and spent the past two years supporting a social services nonprofit in Coos Bay, where she fell in love with the state of Oregon.