|
'Vision
of Alpine' starts with cleaning, moves on to pocket parks and
rustic bridges
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — Alpine area residents gathered once again to discuss the revitalization of Alpine. At a follow-up meeting of the “Vision of Alpine” workshop event, held Feb. 19, participants looked at specific ways of putting plans into action.
“We have to find the stakeholders in Alpine,” said Joe Sterling, of Sterling Insights, Inc., who lead the meeting and the February event. “We need people who can contribute and those people who have an invested interest in the future of Alpine.”
“I hope you’re feeling like you have the power in this process to make Alpine what you want,” Sterling said.
A slightly smaller group than the workshop participants looked at the outcomes of that event and tried to whittle down the wish-list of projects to those that can be done.
“We want to come out of this with a couple really workable projects,” said Sterling, “and a couple bigger important projects that we can work towards.”
The group returned to the revitalization process with a new outlook of their town and its future. After the workshop participants went back to their groups with the outcomes, and many groups proactively started to do their part in achieving some of the stated goals. To see the “Vision of Alpine” workshop outcomes, including vision elements, improvement ideas and downloadable maps, one may visit
www.SterlingInsights.com/Alpine.
“A little vision is a dangerous thing,” Sterling said, in response to a participant who said she had a new view of Alpine.
“I used to avoid downtown Alpine, now I find every reason to go down there,” she said. “I look around now and just see what it’s going to look like – ‘oh that’s where that gazebo will go’, or ‘hey that’s where that green space is going to be.”
“Something is in the air right now,” said Kymberly Mueller, “everyone seems to be on the same wavelength to get things done.”
“There’s all sorts of incredible things that can happen when you get groups of people working together,” Sterling said.
Just a few of the things that groups have been working towards are water-saving landscaping at Crown Hills, organic gardens by local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the approaching “I love a clean Alpine” on Saturday, April 30, which coincides with Earth Day.
“It is so central to the area and so visible,” said Gary Weinstein about clean-up of the five corners at the town core, “it could really give this whole revitalization process some positive attention.”
Meeting participants decided to focus their current efforts on the clean-up day. The group discussed how each group could take part and help make the event a success. “I love clean Alpine” is an annual event, in which local residents spend the day picking up trash and generally tidying-up certain areas of Alpine.
The meeting participants decided to divide the area up into several different areas and a clean-up captains were assigned to handle each place. For more information about “I love clean Alpine day,” which goes Saturday, April 30, contact Gary Weinstein at the Alpine Chamber of Commerce.
Another project that the group discussed and initiated was the possibility of a farmers market in town to coincide with Viejas Days in October. Several people put their names on a sign-up sheet to help make the market a reality.
The next Alpine revitalization meeting will be held April 21 at Exit Realty, tentatively scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Contact Joe Forlenza for more information about meetings or the revitalization process in Alpine.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
|
