I believe I've heard from two members of this list about "exclusionary" issues relating to community groups. This doesn't seem like a proportion sufficient to justify your statements below-can you cite more evidence? What is the "essence of an urban/urbane lifestyle?"
I suspect that the answer to that last question could result in a record length thread of discussion, so I hope we'll keep the submissions short and singular. _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 8:25 AM To: UnivCity@list.purple.com Subject: [UC] Public Record article & Community Associations Something interesting I found in the Public Record article about Special Services Districts. Here are a few quotes showing the element to which I refer (emphasis added): "divided neighbors and left community groups in the middle." "These services are highly valued by dozens of community groups that regularly tap them to address local needs" "regularly attended by activists from three dozen West Philadelphia groups and agencies" "In the middle are most community organizations" ... and yet ... "They derive their leadership and their sense of mission primarily from local business communities" The point that emerges from these quotes, which are central to the article and -- I believe -- to the issue involves the primacy of "community groups" as opposed to the actual stakeholders in the community. In this article, the stakeholders being businesses of some kind mainly because most of the special services districts in Philadelphia (although not elsewhere in the state or the country) are focused on business issues. And UCD's proposal tried to use this approach, too. By extension, this would apply to residents and other stakeholders in general in a more broad-based NID. This presupposes an intimate connection between the people in an area and the local "community group." A connection that I don't believe exists. For a lot of reasons... including the exclusionary attitudes that many "community groups" exhibit, and a misinterpretation among many "activists" who cast themselves as "community leaders" about what the essence of an urban/urbane lifestyle is. Al Krigman Slightly to the right of Jane Jacobs _____ See what's free at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503> .
