City leaders last week released data it collected at neighborhood meetings for what residents want to see for new development in their neighborhood.
The results came from a pair of meetings held in the Thomas Street neighborhood earlier this year. Consultant Christopher Max gathered data from the residents through a series of general preference surveys.
Generally, residents said they wanted lower density, lush yards and wanted to emphasize walking and biking. They tended to like solar panels, starter homes and raised vegetable gardens.
The approach from the city came after proposals from developers for leftover parcels from the Thomas Street reconstruction project drew controversy from the neighborhood, largely around affordability and some of the design characteristics.
City leaders and consultants will take the results and use that to help decide what kind of housing ultimately is built on other remnant parcels in the neighborhood. The city plans to help make the housing affordable and plans to set restrictions so someone can’t just flip the house for profit.
“The city is more the facilitator to get the development that you want,” says Chris Naumann of Christopher Max. “Versus a third party developer coming in and doing it for you.
