Hi all,
Thanks for a great February meeting of the Syracuse Urbanism Club! We continue to grow and make change, and we surpassed 130 members on Tuesday!
We shared a presentation about the Congress for the New Urbanism (which our group is a part of), as well as upcoming opportunities to get involved with this organization. During this meeting, we also tried out a new format: save 30 minutes of the meeting time for breaking out into project-focused, issue-driven working groups. This was a great success! Expect to see more of this format in the future.
Call to Action:
- If you’d like to join one of our project teams, send an email to syracuseurbanismclub@gmail.com. The project teams include the SWAG Bike Fest, Mini Meadows, Onondaga Creekwalk Wayfinding, Safe Bike/Pedestrian Infrastructure (this one is brand new, not on our website yet), and our social media team. More volunteer opportunities may be coming soon on other projects, too. You can learn more about these projects at https://syracuseurbanism.org/our-projects/
- If you’re a project manager or would like to start a project within the Syracuse Urbanism Club, start here: https://syracuseurbanism.org/start-your-own-project/
- If you’re a project manager, send a project update blurb, ideally with a photo, to syracuseurbanismclub@gmail.com by the end of this Friday.
- Let us know if you might attend the CNU conference in Cincinnati, May 15 to 18, at syracuseurbanismclub@gmail.com. We’ll connect you with other urbanism club members who also plan on going. More info here: https://www.cnu.org/cnu32
- We’re looking for a treasurer and a membership director! If you’re interested in becoming our membership director, please self-nominate at the next meeting. If you’d like to be our treasurer, please send an email to syracuseurbanismclub@gmail.com describing your interest in this role and your qualifications, and also self-nominate at the next meeting.
- If you’d like to join the efforts of others who are new to the New Urbanism movement at the national level, consider joining the Emerging New Urbanists at https://www.emergingnewurbanists.org/.
- If you haven’t yet, please send a letter of support for our public comment on the I-81 Viaduct Project to NYSDOT by clicking the big orange button at https://syracuseurbanism.org/i-81/. Every letter strengthens our case!
Other Updates:
- Mark your calendars! Clare Carney, Community Forester for the City of Syracuse, will be hosting a “Tree Walk” for Syracuse Urbanism Club members on Tuesday, July 16 at 6-7pm. We’ll walk around and talk about trees, parks, community, and everything in between. This event begins at Columbus Circle.
- We just won our first grant! Congrats to the Onondaga Creekwalk Wayfinding group for securing funds!
- We’re updating our website now to make it easier to learn about projects and to get involved, among other improvements. Stay tuned for additional updates!
- Our M. Lemp Park Project continues to make progress in discussions of a contract with the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency.
- We may be hosting and attending state chapter events for the Congress for the New Urbanism in the future. Stay tuned for updates.
- We’ll be meeting with the NYSDOT I-81 Viaduct Project leaders on March 12 to advocate for our I-81 Viaduct Project Public Comment. This document has been further strengthened as we just received an endorsement from the Erie Canal Museum this week!
- The SWAG Bike Fest will take place on June 15. More details to follow soon.
I wanted to reflect for a moment after our 12th monthly meeting as a new organization. I’m incredibly optimistic about the bright future within reach for Syracuse. Participation and initiative in this group continue to be incredible, and I think there’s something truly special about our city and our community that makes the work we’re doing possible. We couldn’t do any of this without each and every one of you.
Regards,
Baxter Hankin
Chair of the Syracuse Urbanism Club