Newsreal 98105

Results from the March 1 Neighborhood Planning Forum at the UW Evans School of Public Affairs were shared with invited members of focus groups held at the University Heights Community Center on April 17 and 18. Nice to read that more than 90 reported attendees, 15 percent of whom were renters, believe renters should be included in this round of neighborhood planning.  They weren’t last time.  Too bad they don’t share those feelings regarding minority citizens.

Respondents were mixed where it concerned minority engagement in the planning process. Most respondents disagreed with the statement that “city staff sufficiently engages racial and ethnic minority groups in the neighborhood planning process,” while 15% indicated they did not know and only several indicated they agreed. A larger representation of these racial and ethnic minority groups would have given a more accurate perception of city efforts to engage under-represented groups.

 

Less than 25 percent of the UW Forum participants represented minority participants.  The overwhelming majority were older, very well educated and, although they lived in the city more than ten years, more than two third were new to the neighborhood planning process.