Algiers Village Living Communities Challenge Vision Plan

Community Meetings & Public Participation
To ensure community engagement in this project, a complete public participation process was emphasized from the beginning
of this Vision Plan project. One inherent strength of this project from its inception was the participation and input
from four community-based nonprofit organizations in Algiers Village, which have already proved to be productive organizations
that prioritize the needs of the community. With the FOAVI, CC4G, GCC, and GPI being the face of this community
development and planning work, the LCC Vision Planning process effectively engaged with the public.
On August 16, 2017, the four nonprofits hosted a community
charrette (images to the left), with the support from the
Windham Regional Commission and BuildingGreen, at the
Guilford Community Church. Attending community members
were encouraged to share their knowledge of Algiers Village,
and help us identify landscape or infrastructure elements
that would have value in the community. The intent of this
meeting was to introduce the LCC Vision Plan project, glean
on-the-ground knowledge of the current conditions of the
village, and then gather the community’s ideas of what they
would like to see as solutions.
Through a brief presentation and two sets of group mapping
exercises, over 30 participants first identified areas that they
“loved,” or “hated” about Algiers Village. They then were
encouraged to draw out or identify on the map solutions that
they would like to see on the ground.
Common responses included increased pedestrian safety
measures, improved public spaces, slower traffic, more
businesses that fit within the character of Algiers, and a
statement that “these things would be nice but not if it
means development (in terms of buildings or roads).”
This community input and feedback is important to the
Vision Plan process, and is included in this LCC Vision Plan
for Algiers Village (the collection of maps and data from that
meeting are exemplified below).
A secondary follow-up meeting is planned for spring/summer
of 2018 (following the creation of this document), where the
nonprofits may present some of the findings and solutions of
this Vision Plan, and solicit community feedback.