About 200 people met Wednesday as part of a major incentive to gather public input for the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's 2030 comprehensive plan.
View full sizeRachel Bradshaw, back left, of Renew Lehigh Valley, encourages people to plot their residence and workplaces on county maps on Wednesday at the launch of Envision Lehigh Valley at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.ArtsQuest’s SteelStacks complex on former Bethlehem Steel Corp. land may be the most apropos place to discuss the region’s future.
About 200 people thought so as they met there Wednesday to discuss the topic as part of a major initiative to gather public input for the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s 2030 comprehensive plan. The effort, called Envision Lehigh Valley, is part of a regional planning effort funded by part of a $3.4 million federal grant.
“The whole purpose of why we are here today … is to look at tomorrow,” said Don Cunningham, CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., one of the planning partners. “This is the ultimate culmination of what so many people have been talking about and working on for many years, which is partnerships and regionalization.”
The attendees broke into small groups to discuss what officials see as the region’s key planning issues: economic development, fresh food access, transportation choices, housing choices and energy efficiency.
The fresh food group spoke about how the region’s soil is well suited for agriculture and how many people would like to be able to walk to buy locally grown food. One group participant brought up how easy it is to have a backyard vegetable garden, but another participant pointed out how many Bethlehem residents are renters and aren’t allowed to have gardens.
Many attendees worked for local government or nonprofit agencies, but there also were some resident attendees, such as Andrew Bench, of Bethlehem.
“I’m just interested in urban development in the Lehigh Valley,” the attorney said. “I think we would make better environmental and energy efficiency choices if we increase densities in urban environments.”
Roger Hudak, chairman of the Bethlehem South Side task force, said he believes the Lehigh Valley is on the right track with future planning but wants to see more partnerships grow.
“I want to make sure the partnerships continue to develop the way they have been and we’ll make the Lehigh Valley a wonderful place to live, work and visit,” Hudak said.
Two Envision Lehigh Valley meetings were held Wednesday at SteelStacks. The group is scheduling many more participation events throughout the regional planning project’s three-year run.
Pam Colton, executive director of Renew Lehigh Valley, which is tasked with the plan’s public outreach component, said she expects her group to visit every school district in the Lehigh Valley and possibly all 62 towns to gather input.
“We want everyone to feel they can participate,” she said. “There are no presupposed answers in any of this; there are no final answers yet.”
The groups have about 60 percent of the $3.4 million federal grant for the regional planning effort. The other 40 percent of the grant is going to specific planning efforts in Easton’s 13th Street corridor, Allentown’s Little Lehigh industrial area and a portion of Bethlehem’s South Side near Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.