Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day 2008. Last year, on Earth Day 2007, Green Broad Ripple celebrated with an event entitled "Glimpse the Future" that presented completed and planned "Green" projects in Indianapolis and elsewhere in the state. This year, Green Broad Ripple Inc. will sponsor "Envision the Future" which will explore the necessary elements in organizing an effort to develop a "Town Plan" (Plan) for the greater Broad Ripple community. Creating a Plan will not be easy for the process must accommodate and reconcile many diverse and strongly held views. The Plan must address all aspects of community life; safety, aesthetic, economic, political, cultural. . . . The planning process will raise important issues that impact every citizen and will likely bring to the fore difficult points of contention. Yet we must establish the confidence that we, as a community, have, or can attract, the resources to see the process through.

LISC (Local Initiative Support Corporation) is one such promising resource. Its motto is; "Helping neighbors build communities." It does so in a myriad of ways as one discovers by browsing their website - www.lisc.org. Most interesting is the GINI (Great Indianapolis Neighborhoods Initiative) project - a pilot program to support comprehensive community development in six demonstration Indianapolis neighborhoods by helping each create a comprehensive quality of life plan. "A Comprehensive Quality of Life Plan" - an intriguing possibility for Broad Ripple - no? In my discussions with Will Pritchard, LISC Senior Program Officer, I learned that the planning phase of the GINI initiative concluded in 2007 yet, he went on to say, there is no reason why our neighborhood could not undertake an independent effort using their procedures, methods, and published material. LISC would be willing to assist in this effort as well as investigate the possible availability of suitable grants to fund the effort. Mr. Pritchard has agreed to participate in our Earth Day 2008 gathering and contribute to our discussion of planning and its process.

Another resource is HARMONI (Historic Midtown Neighborhoods Initiatives), an organization whose mission is to catalyze a new "Indy Midtown" in the same way that Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. helped to revitalize downtown's quality of life and economic development (see www.indyharmoni.org). This initiative is a high priority of the four participating neighborhoods: Meridian-Kessler, Broad Ripple Village, Butler-Tarkington, and the Meridian Street Foundation. In its short life, this organization has already begun employing Smart Growth principles in an initiative to revitalize the Meridian Street corridor. It has recently obtained city approval for a Meridian Street improvement proposal that includes traffic calming concepts - a feat impossible just a few years ago. Co-chairman and HARMONI, Inc. board president Kathryn Shorter will help facilitate "Visioning Broad Ripple 2012" at our Earth Day 2008 gathering.

Other resources include planning assistance from the planning staff of the Department of Metropolitan Development and an offer of collaboration from the Broad Ripple Village Association yet the main player in the development of the Plan will be the Broad Ripple citizen. If we are to move forward with this effort, a sufficient number of citizens must seriously engage the process. They must attend, work, promote, educate others, and most importantly they must educate themselves. What will make the process viable is a citizen planner who harbors a love for community coupled with a cultivated informed opinion. Toward this end, Green Broad Ripple Inc. has begun a One Book One Broad Ripple initiative. The initiative invites individuals who would like to participate or are simply interested in the creation of a Broad Ripple Plan to read the book; The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. This classic book called "Perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning. . . a work of literature" by the New York Times Book Review provides uncommon insights into the elements that make cities livable. A discussion of these ideas will be part of the celebration of Earth Day 2008.

These are the planned activities that will take place at the Glendale Library Auditorium on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 3:00 - 5:30 in the afternoon. Other things may hopefully happen as well; sense of community, clearer understanding, inspiration of possibilities, and hope for prospects of a promising future. If you are interested in participating or would like additional information, please send an email to the address listed below or call 317-466-1099. Planning the future of Broad Ripple promises to be a long journey. Confucius once said "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lets; we the citizens of Broad Ripple, on Earth Day 2008, take the first step.