Over the course of the years, many things have changed. Some of the Villages are seeing significant changes in the business makeup of their centers. With the introduction of big box centers located on the edge of the community, people need to drive to reach those big box areas and fewer people are using the Village Centers to meet their shopping needs. The redevelopment of Town Center will bring about more mixed uses of land including a planned one million square feet of retail, five million square feet of office, and about 5,500 new high density dwelling units. A 640 room hotel is also planned for the revitalized Town Center.
The video in this post describes how CA will develop more dynamic avenues for two-way public communication.
Based on the adopted General Plan Amendment for the Town Center area, CA is likely to be the primary provider of open space and social gathering places. The CA Board of Directors has made the development of Symphony Woods Park, and the Lakefront and plaza areas on Lake Kittamaqundi high priorities. Both projects will be in the category 1 classification of Capital Improvement Projects over the next five years.
The coming years will see a greater needs for community input as the face of Columbia and the Columbia Association will no doubt change very significantly. Columbia will continue to age, household size and makeup will continue to decrease, and the number of households with children will diminish rather drastically. The Census Bureau has indicated that by 2035, about 86% of all households will be childless.
Electric connectivity has now taken a greater role in how people interact. Many people now use social media to communicate, stay in touch with friends, and to voice opinions on public matters. CA joined the Facebook rush and maintains an active page giving people a platform for comments and input on CA programs. CA has also entered the world of Twitter, and has launched a television network on YouTube.
With these rather drastic changes on the near-time horizon, CA needs to expand the avenues for two-way communication. While there is a need to provide program, facility and some community information to our residents and facility/program users, there is an even greater responsibility to facilitate two-way communication with our community and those who use our facilities and programs.
Primary Focus Points:
- Focus groups
- Public work team involvement
- Working with Villages to recreate people places
- Master planning for people venues in new development areas
- Continuing to provide focus and resources for Symphony Woods and the lakefront/plaza area
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