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Forum Home LCFApril 1999 LCFMarch 2001 URFNovember 2001 Urban River Visions, November, 2003	The Sustainable City A cooperative project between Green Futures, RISD and Brown University. Summary of the Proceedings: A Community Forum - The Livable City: A Vision for Fall River Sponsored by Green Futures and held on Saturday, April 17, 1999 at the International Institute of Culinary Arts on 100 Rock Street in Fall River, MA. Other Sponsors were: Greater Fall River Council of Churches; Preservation Society of Fall River; Greater Fall River Land Conservancy; Citizens for Citizens; Fall River Educators' Association; Fall River Art Association; St. Luke's Episcopal Church; We Love Children; Highland Neighborhood Association; the Fall River Garden Club; Flint Village West Neighborhood Association; Partners for a Healthier Community; Church of the Ascension; and the BCC Chapter of Massachusetts Community Water Watch. The following is a brief summary of the ideas that were presented and discussed during the Forum: OPEN SPACE Fall River Open Space and Recreation Plan: Apply for state and federal funding to implement it. Raise public awareness of the Plan and get public support for it. The Copicut Greenbelt: Increase public awareness of the concept and accelerate acquisition and protection of parcels within the Watuppa and Copicut watersheds in East Fall River. North Watuppa Pond protection:Protect remaining privately-owned parcels on North Watuppa Pond. Urban greenbelt network: Implement a system of greenbelts throughout Fall River along the shores of the city's rivers and ponds, as recommended in the Open Space Plan. Boulevards: Interconnect the city's neighborhoods through the existing system of refurbished boulevards. Street trees: Bring nature into the city through the implementation of a street tree program. Develop a plan and fund adequately. Restoration of park system: Restore the city's park system to the original concepts, especially the Olmstead parks. Bikeways: Create a system of interconnected bikeways in the city that would traverse along the city's greenways, as recommended in the Open Space Plan. Kennedy Park upgrade: Improve the lower level of Kennedy Park on Mount Hope Bay, as originally intended by Olmstead. Greenways initiatives: Begin implementing aspects of the greenways plan: Kennedy Park, Kerr Mill, Peace Haven, Quaker Fabrics on South Watuppa Pond. Community gardens: Create a series of community gardens in the city. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL/AIR QUALITY Incinerator: Close the city incinerator ;out of compliance for 20 years (it is closed as of this time). Investigate alternatives such as solid waste composting. Air quality: Cease the use of highly-polluting and dangerous fossil fuels for power generation at Brayton Point and Montaup. Switch to gas. Enforce new DEP regs on air quality for power plants. Recycling: Expand recycling to all of city. Use Worcester's recycling program as a model (50%). Goal: 100% recycling! Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reactivate the city's Solid Waste Committee to advocate and work on this issue. Litter: Do more to clean up litter from the city. Expand the bottle bill. Clean up vacant lots; highway trash. HISTORIC PRESERVATION City's Preservation Efforts: Reinstitute and adequately staff the Office of Historic Preservation. Historical Commission: Appoint members to the Historical Commission; the Commission currently has no members. Update and add to surveys of historic resources: Commission and fund additional survey work on historic properties and disseminate. Owner education: Educate owners on historic value of their properties. Also educate the public on the historic architecture in the city. Historic Districts: Create a Highlands Historic District. Investigate other neighborhoods for historic district or neighborhood conservation district status. Preserve granite mill buildings: Develop a plan to preserve mill buildings and enhance surrounding landscapes. Planning needed: Prepare a Preservation Master Plan. Oral history: Create a city-wide oral history project. ARTS Cultural accessibility: Make arts easily available and accessible to all residents of the city. Youth activities: Provide regularly-scheduled, weekly arts activities for children of a varied nature. Get kids interested in arts at an early age. Transportation is needed. Awareness: Increase awareness of what's going on in Fall River. Newsletter for the Arts; central think tank. Information: Provide information on culture and arts in several languages. Inclusiveness: Empower ethnic groups to be more involved in cultural planning. Role of Schools: Make programs available to the schools (day and evening). Culture and community: Use the arts as a means of building a sense of community in the city; adding to night life; providing a role for downtown. SCHOOLS Neighborhood schools: Will the current expansion policy change the nature of education in the classroom? Community schools: Expand concept of community schools. A place where adults and kids can learn and grow. Schools with after-school and summer programs. Year-round schools. Schools that break down the isolation of schools from their surrounding community and neighborhood. Cultural diversity: Getting beyond the school walls to network and visit between schools. Advocacy: An outside advocate is needed to foster change. Use examples from other communities. Teacher support needed: Develop a support system for teachers within and outside the schools. Architectural aesthetics: Restore schools to their original architectural integrity. Maintain them through a regular maintenance program. Expand on-site to meet additional needs. Green linkages: Develop a green interconnection between schools through greenbelts and bikepaths. NEIGHBORHOODS Street trees: Develop, fund and implement a street tree master plan. Integrate tree planting into street repair programs. Place utilities underground to allow trees to grow. Neighborhood schools: What effect will consolidated, larger schools have on the concept of neighborhood schools? Will fewer, bigger schools be compatible with neighborhood scale? Reconsider school construction policy? Neighborhood parks: Improve parks in the city's neighborhoods as a means of improving neighborhood stability and livability. Neighborhood-based summer programs: Reinstitute and expand summer parks programs for neighborhood kids. Use schools. Community gardens: Establish community gardens as a recreational and community-building neighborhood activity. Greenbelts: Link all of the city's neighborhoods with a system of greenbelts and bikepaths. "The Walkable City": Encourage those small-scale commercial and related activities that make a neighborhood viable and its streets alive: small shops, markets, hardware stores, branch libraries. Do no harm: Restrict the granting of zoning variances that are incompatible with neighborhood viability. Increase size of buildable lots. INFRASTRUCTURE Sidewalks: Repair sidewalks where needed and add in some, especially northerly, neighborhoods. Roads: Major rehabilitation of city's roads is needed.; replace water and sewer pipes, more funding. Create a system of bikepaths: Develop network of bikepaths; acquire land, advocacy committee, off road, bike path network. Overhead wires: Put underground in more neighborhoods. Code enforcement: Enforce building and zoning codes more effectively. Quequechan River: Open up the Quequechan River and create a linear park along the open falls. Public buildings: Dedicate funds for building maintenance. Create a capital improvement program to maintain the city's public buildings. Neutralize highway barriers: Depress Route 79 to make waterfront more accessible. Minimize separation from highways (waterfront and downtown). TRANSPORTATION Routes: Have busses go across town, instead of only to downtown. Provide smaller busses with more flexible routes (demand/response). Service: Extend bus hours to evenings and Sundays. Information: Need better bus maps. Facilities: Improve bus stations. Alternatives: Advance the commuter rail to the city. Youth needs: How can better service assist youths to have improved mobility in the city? ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Clean jobs: Strive for clean, rather than dirty jobs, those that create a healthy community. The important role of being an attractive community: Make the city an attractive place that will be appealing to prospective employers and to new residents. Character and quality of life are important locational advantages. Role of mills: Use mills for small businesses and more creative uses that are needed by community: job training, health centers. Use historic preservation: Replicate Lowell's use of its history/ethnicity as economic development tool. Transportation: Improve transportation facilities: bikepaths, commuter rail, city rails, bus services. Waterfront: Use the city's waterfront to better advantage. QUALITY OF LIFE Basic needs: Take care of basic needs: shelter, food, accessible health care, meaningful employment, recreation. Clean air and water are a priority. Involvement: Citizenship needs to be increased; reinforce the need to be involved and be good citizens. Downtown: Improve the downtown as the center of the community. Curriculum: Quality of life curriculum for the schools. Diversity: Celebrate diversity while emphasizing commonality. Getting together: Intergenerational waterfront ethnic festivals. Community service: "Adopt a neighbor" community service for school children. Scale: Small scale is a key component of quality of life in neighborhoods. Neighborhood schools and neighborhood scale. "More front porches make people feel comfortable." Note: This is an ongoing project that will be growing and expanding in the future. We will update you as the information is forthcoming. Back to top

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