The City of Charlottesville is conducting a massive community survey, collecting your opinions on everything from police activity to trash collection practices.
Before you stop reading — hear me out!
This survey is long, wide-reaching and a little tedious. It is also a critical tool that city officials will use to guide their decisions on key issues — like what they will be spending our tax money on — for years to come.
So, here’s the nitty gritty: The city regularly updates its strategic plan. It’s an internal policy document that outlines Charlottesville’s major priorities for the next five years. It’s basically a blueprint for the tangible things the city aims to accomplish. Here’s a quick breakdown of the current strategic plan, which expires next year.
Creating this plan is a long, bureaucratic exercise — and the survey is only the start. Since most of us won’t have time to attend all the subsequent meetings and share our opinions and expertise, taking this survey is a way to help leaders understand where they should be devoting their time and our collective community resources.
It’s important for folks from various backgrounds and community groups to participate, otherwise our officials could have a skewed view of what their constituents need.
To give you a sense of how important this is, our previous strategic plans have lead to things like hiring more bus drivers to build out more reliable public transportation:
Charlottesville adds more full-time bus drivers than ever before, but residents say it’s not enough
The plan also guided city officials to encourage building more community gardens in parks:
Consultant recommends Charlottesville build a community garden in Booker T. Washington Park
It pushed officials to seek ways to build a new low-barrier homeless shelter in the city:
Charlottesville’s city manager tells Fifeville residents that his proposed low-barrier shelter might not move forward unless another agency volunteers to run it
And dramatically rethinking the city’s zoning code to allow for higher density in hopes of addressing housing affordability:
City Council approved a new zoning ordinance that re-envisions Charlottesville as a denser and more economically diverse city
Where will the city focus its efforts next?
Here’s the survey.
Take Action
If you’re interested in learning more about issues facing local government, nearly a dozen local leaders will gather for a community conversation on May 27. Can I Talk To You Cville is hosting the “Governing Charlottesville” event, where these officials will break out into different conversations on local and state issues. Here’s how you attend!
Finally, before we go, a little newsroom news: We’ve added a new team member! Sakeena Alkateeb, our revenue and partnerships lead, is hitting the ground running.
Interested in seeing your brand represented on Charlottesville Tomorrow’s website, newsletters, products and at events? Sakeena wants to talk about how sponsorship can drive real-world outcomes — not just clicks — right here in central Virginia. Reach out and become a sponsor today.
Charlottesville Tomorrow’s newest team member is growing our sustainability — and helping connect sponsors with the community
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Jessie Higgins, Democracy Editor
