Have you ever participated in a "Charrette"?

I have on three occasions. One of them was a brainstorming session about the area of land we now know as "Riverview". I sat at this table with people I had never met before and we had this blank map that had the boundaries of some property off of the 202 freeway. There was a gravel pit and a golf course/park area and basically some lines that we had to stay within. We were told the history of the area from way back to present. Our group started coming up with all kinds of ideas and placing them on the paper- there was so much space we could not even fill it all. One of the ideas was a place called "Bass Pro Shop" and it was suggested because we thought the gravel pit would make a nice lake someday where people could fish or test drive boats. Ok- I don't know much about either (and those of you who know me can attest to this). I certainly didn't have any idea what the store was and was assured it was a great place that someone had seen in like Oklahoma or someplace. BUT there was so much room to fill in that we all went along with the idea. Who would have thought.....

So now YOU have the opportunity to get in on the action to craft a vision for the mile-wide urban corridor that straddles Main Street between Country Club Drive and Gilbert Road. Believe me you don't have to be an architect or a land planner by profession. In fact all you have to have is the desire to own and be a part of the community you live in. You see our opinion matters in these settings before all those professional's who have to figure it out after we decide!

The two-day "charrette" is June 23-24 at the former Mervyn's, 1240 E. Main St. You know the place called POOL. If you haven't been there this is the perfect opportunity to check it out (under the guise of being an interested resident of Mesa). Hope you all come join the fun and think it is as cool as I did. And then I hope the powers that be do this more often...

Charrette-The word charrette may refer to any collaborative session in which a group drafts a solution to a design problem. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people. Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2010/06/10/20100610mesa-council-main-street.html#ixzz0qUncvdU5