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22 <br /> B . Ilckg o a noo 00noo ° <br /> For the last 9 months, a core of neighborhood residents and other key stakeholders have gathered for <br /> intensive dialogue about our hopes and fears for our community, the strengths and struggles of our <br /> history, and the diverse visions we have for the future of the Historic Rogers Road Community. We <br /> initially planned to participate in four intensive meetings over four months. In order to reach a variety of <br /> stakeholders and ensure sufficient discussion depth, we adapted this strategy to nine sessions focused on <br /> creating, reviewing, and strategizing together. <br /> '///11J <br /> Many of the primary stakeholders have <br /> participated in planning efforts for decades. <br /> %�sc , <br /> 1� Throughout the process in Rogers Road, we faced a <br /> ���,,, ,�� great challenge together: the collective feeling <br /> ,, and reality among constituents - that planning <br /> ✓' r^�`i Y g p <br /> /Oil <br /> 01(1 0 � � �t��� �i;, � efforts in Rogers Road have consistently fallen <br /> 111 short on implementation. We discussed questions <br /> like: What is the point of this effort? Will the three <br /> � <br /> �r <br /> 11111111 ��' � t ° j governments respect our visions and actually help <br /> „�o '�, fir, <br /> 1X __mm___ sm " us achieve them? Will sewer really happen or is <br /> this process a trick to focus us on development <br /> Neighbors in a discussion about land control and conservation. <br /> instead? Will this just become another plan <br /> shelved for people to reference in their articles about the struggles of Rogers Road? <br /> While some of these questions remain, our dialogue about these questions led us to clarify our common <br /> understanding and our group's charge for moving forward. Our focus and group charge for the effort was <br /> to work together to create: <br /> • A collective answer to the question of what would we like to see from any future development in the form of a <br /> crisp list of easy to explain priorities that we can remember. <br /> • A map of our vision for future development/improvements. We are working on being able to describe both <br /> what we want and where we would like to see it happen <br /> • A specific action plan that describes how we achieve our aspirations, including specific action steps,with "gives <br /> and gets,"or realistic trade-offs,for neighbors, local governments, and developers <br /> We used the model of Community-First Planning that that the Jackson Center developed for use in the <br /> ongoing Northside Neighborhood Initiative. This model is built on an intensive set of communication and <br /> organizing tools that bring neighbors and other stakeholders into active and realistic planning discussions <br /> focused on change that enhances community and regional goals. Unlike external, top-down, or selective <br /> representative processes, Community-First Planning features broad-based participation developed on the <br /> ground in direct communication with residents and stakeholders, "reverse-consultancy" leadership <br /> (funding for on-site existing community leaders as primary consultants), and a direction-setting group <br /> that remains accountable to community interests. Accordingly, RENA and the Jackson Center worked for <br /> 5 <br />