Environmental activism isn't just for Al Gore. It's coming to a community center near you.On Saturday, April 26, as part of its day-long Green my Ride event highlighting alternative transportation, Phinney Ecovillage and the Phinney Neighborhood Association are hosting a community forum to discuss recent condominium development, traffic, small-business migration and other issues affecting Phinney Ridge. "This really goes to the heart of democracy," said Cecile Andrews, the founder of Ecovillage, a neighborhood group dedicated to preserving environmentally friendly practices and the small-town feel of Phinney. The State of the Neighborhood forum comes at the tail end of Green my Ride. Starting at 2:30 p.m. in the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., the forum is a place for neighbors to sit down and discuss some of the more pressing concerns facing Phinney residents. The idea is to take the big, sometimes daunting idea of climate change and conceptualize it on a much smaller (and ultimately more human) scale, i.e., the neighborhood level, Andrews said. COMMUNITY IDENTITYThe loss of traditional commercial space to condos and the resulting out-migration of foot traffic-dependent businesses, is leading to a loss of community identity in Phinney, Andrews said. "If all of our small businesses go, it'll just be dullsville," she said. Higher costs of living and a reliance on single-occupancy cars are changing the face of Phinney - and not for the better, she said. The forum will be a place for people to vent their concerns and brainstorm ideas to keep the neighborhood feel of Phinney alive, she said. Jennifer Wood, the coordinator of Green My Ride and a neighborhood association board member, is hoping the two events will play off each other. "The event is [about] moving from the big picture of climate change to the neighborhood level," she said. To put it another way, "the focus of the forum is to get people talking about where our neighborhoods are going and how we can get our neighborhoods...more walkable," for example.NEIGHBORHOOD PLANSIrene Wall, the president of the Phinney Ridge Community Council, said that the forum will give people a rare chance to speak out on issues that affect their immediate community, including possible revisions to the neighborhood plan. The plan, like many such neighborhood plans drawn up in the late 1990s, has not been updated for the better part of a decade. "This event could highlight some changes that might be made," Wood said. It's a touchy subject for many neighborhood activists, she said. The Seattle City Council is currently debating a measure that would consolidate the revision of neighborhood plans under the city's own planning office, as opposed to the old method of letting local neighborhoods - with help from the city - draw up their own plans. "Many are convinced that neighborhoods aren't going to maintain their independence," Wood said. But efforts to meet and hash out differences of opinion - along with questions and concerns about topics such as zoning and environmental initiatives - will help reassure people, Wall said. "The baby step here is to try a kind of meeting," she said, and "then take a look and see what Cecile teases out of people."THE DEMOCRATIC SPIRITThe forum will let Phinney residents discuss this and another important topics in a personal, small-group setting. Andrews and Wood both hope the event taps into the democratic spirit of the recent presidential caucuses. "People have to feel really involved.... The best way to do that is to get their feedback," Andrews said. "I don't think people realize the importance of community, unless they have an experience." "Bring the kids, and expect to have fun," Andrews said. People are encouraged to walk, bus or carpool to the event. For more information, visit the Phinney Ecovillage's website at www.phinneyecovillage.net.[[In-content Ad]]
