To draw the community into an ongoing conversation, the city of Hagerstown, MD, launched its engageHagerstown website.
The city posts questions and moderates discussions about important topics that will shape the future of the downtown.
The inaugural question was: “What’s your big idea for downtown?”
That first question generated “a ton of feedback,” says Sarah Nelson, planning and outreach coordinator for the city.
Building on that success, the city has queried the public and kept the conversation going around topics including public art, walkability, the downtown farmers market, and more.
“We have a team that works on the questions, and our staff meets regularly to talk about what topics to post,” says Nelson. “We review a large portion of the ideas and let participants know if they are feasible, which ones we are working on, what we are able to do, so they are getting feedback from us in real time on how their ideas are informing city decisions.”
The full article appeared in our print edition. To always get the full story, read Downtown Idea Exchange.