It was great to see so many Keezletown folks out at the Ruritan Hall on September 27! Here’s a recap of what folks were asked to discuss in several small groups. The Alliance will compile what we heard and report out at the November 1st meeting to make sure we heard right. Please RSVP if you can make it November 1!
First – Introductions
To make sure everyone in each group knew how the others were connected to Keezletown we asked folks to share:
✧ Their name
✧ Their profession or community role(s)
✧ A story about how they came to live in Keezletown, or, if they were born here, a story about their family/ancestors
Second – Maps
We asked each group to cluster around a map of the area and identify and describe:
✧ Treasured places: those special or cherished features including buildings, natural features, neighborhoods, green spaces, landscapes, views, historic resources, etc. that make Keezletown a great place to live and that distinguish it from other places.
✧ Places to protect from change: features, areas or places that residents and stakeholders want to see conserved or protected from incompatible change (such as land uses that create undue impacts on surrounding properties or structures and uses that are out of scale or not in character with existing uses) in the future.
✧ Places to carefully change or improve: areas or features that community residents and stakeholders want to see upgraded, improved or where careful improvements or changes might be desired.
✧ Opportunities to increase connections: identify where it might be possible and desirable to improve or strengthen connections among and within the community (the Ruritan Club, church, schools, etc?).
And then we asked the group to come to agreement on the boundaries for Keezletown, where, geographically speaking, we would focus our work in the next two meetings.
Third – Thinking about the future
We asked each group to discuss:
✧ What they would like to see more of in the community
✧ What they would like less of or not at all
✧ If they were to return to Keezletown in 50 years, they would hope to see…