Williston Design Workshop

Our design workshop in Williston was a much different experience than the one we did in Denmark several months before. At the Williston workshop we had roughly 10 citizens that showed up which was initially disappointing, but those citizens were helpful in providing input about the direction Williston is moving and what needs the community should address in the near future. We had two tables setup to evaluate the internal and external forces affecting Williston and rank them on importance to the community. I was surprised by the way my table ranked certain things. For example, I would assume Williston's proximity to Aiken would be an important external force on how future development does or doesn't occur in Williston, but my table did not rank it as high as some other issues. That is what getting public input is all about I suppose. It gives us a chance to listen to what the residents concerns are before we propose plans simply based on our assumptions about a place. Although we would have liked to have more public interaction that day, it was also good for our class to see that not all public workshops bring out the masses. From what I've seen, Denmark is in a much more desperate situation than Williston, and there was significantly more public showing at that workshop than in Williston. So...I wonder if the public feels the needs aren't as urgent in Williston, and therefore are less motivated to get involved or if there is more work that can be done on our end to get the community more involved in the future.

Williston

A few weeks ago Sara, Kaylan, Meika, and I conducted surveys around different neighborhoods in Williston to help with the Design Workshop we were having at the end of the month. I'm typically a real wimp about knocking on people's doors to ask them to buy things or fill out something, but this wasn't too bad. Everyone was friendly and some were even enthusiastic about getting their opinions out there about what they think is going on in Williston. As far as the town goes, Williston mainly seemed kinda sleepy. The main concerns of the people I talked with were a lack of medical choices, such as a local physician and not enough restaurant variety or shopping. Only one couple talked about a drug problem or that there were areas they deemed unsafe. Overall I found the survey experience interesting. It gives you a chance to get a first hand account of the types of people living in the community and how different demographics are distributed.

Westminster Design Day

Overall the Westminster Design Day went smoothly and a lot of good ideas came out of it. One of the things that made this possible was that prior to the charrette most of the people involved in design day had been divided into 3 teams (downtown, gateway/connections, historic districts) and those teams had determined what tasks they needed to accomplish in that one day. This allowed each team to get going on their work without much wasted time figuring out logistics, etc. I worked with the gateway/connections group. We prepared a diagram illustrating existing and proposed circulation, gateway intersections/entrance improvements, and land use. To reinforce the suggestions on the diagram several sections/elevations were sketch out to provide a visual. These were really good. We had a slight complication in the charrette when storms caused the power to go out. Like the troopers that we are, most people continued to work and help the groups that needed assistance completing their renderings despite the lack of good lighting. Throughout the day several community members stopped by to see what was being produced and seemed to like what they saw. Unfortunately we were unable to hold the final presentation the evening of the charrette due to the power outage, but it was done at the city council meeting this past Monday. I heard from multiple sources that the community is excited about what was done on design day. Westminster is a good example of what an impact it can make to have an active mayor that is invested in the community.

Denmark

Working with Harry Chrissy on Denmark has been a good eye opener to how difficult it can be to come up with feasible solutions for communities that are experiencing the financial and social issues Denmark is dealing with. We easily could have spent the entire year working with Harry and the community and would have only touched the tip of the iceberg. Our second class visit was personally very valuable to my understanding of the community. Walking around downtown with Harry and observing what currently exist and the just the general character of the citizens helped my understanding of the things we could begin to suggest as a class to help move them in a more positive direction. Unfortunately, we only had the opportunity to provide some broad suggestions, but I feel like its a great starting point to get a community dialogue gong and hopefully lead to some improvements. Denmark is lucky to have resources like Harry and Jim Harrison who feel invested in the future of this place and are actively trying to get good things going.

Corridor of Shame

I may have grown up in the south, but I did not grow up in the rural south. Watching Corridor of Shame reinforced this for me. I was blown away by the conditions of the schools in the 1-95 corridor. I couldn’t believe they could actually remain open without proper heat, sewage spills, and such a desperate lack of space. I guess in such an extremely poor area it is the best they can do right now. It was heartbreaking to consider that this type of stuff goes on with few efforts to alleviate what is becoming, if not already, a disaster. Its no wonder so many people in this part of the state don’t graduate high school. The conditions don’t exactly make it a safe and accomodating environment for learning.

I attended public schools in North Carolina, but my experience was nothing like the schools in the film. Gaston County is certainly not one of the best school systems in the state, but the conditions of my schools were not bad. My elementary and middle schools are located within the heart of Mt. Holly. When you hear how important it is for a school to be part of a community’s downtown so the community will feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for it, the schools I grew up in are a good example of this. My schools always had comfortable classroom space, functioning heat and air, and there were never issues with the sewage (at least not that I knew of).

I guess growing up in the suburbs of Charlotte meant that my school system had a stronger tax base to fund at least the basic needs for facilities and supplies. However, I can’t believe money is the only problem in the I-95 schools. The film hinted at many other socio-economic issues that were also weakening the schools. I know that being able to fund maintenance, supplies, and teachers is a huge obstacle, but the schools are only a glimpse at the larger issues within the community. Obviously, these areas are suffering from a lack of industry or other employment opportunities that would sufficiently support their families. The horrible dropout rates indicates that even if industry or other opportunities came to the region, how many community members would even be qualified for the jobs since such a large percentage of the population doesn’t even have a high school diploma. The situation is so desperate; it’s hard to fully understand how any relief can be offered to improve the situation. I hate to be so pessimistic, it really is not my nature, but leaps and bounds will have to be accomplished before any noticeable progress will be made. The places like those in the film remind me of all the opportunities in my life that I have to be grateful for and why I want to help other communities become places their citizens will be proud to have grown up in as well.

4 Little Girls

Hearing the personal accounts of the violence that went on during the Civil Rights Movement reinforced how powerful that whole era in American history was. Growing up in the south segregation and the Civil Right Movement are common topics that would come out of conversations with my dad or grandparents when they would talk about their experiences in the south. I can't understand how you could hate people so much to commit such atrocious acts. I can honestly say that I can't think of anyone that I hate much less whole groups of people. It takes a lot of time and energy to plan and follow through with these types of bombings. It seems like the klan notoriously does things that are enormous waste of time for the simple fact of trying to hurt others. Its stupid really. Its scary that groups like the klan somehow seem to be able to gather followings of people to join into their causes that aim at holding other groups of people back and in such cowardly ways. Planting bombs or having groups of men lynch one person is pathetic. If you have a real cause to fight for you don't have to do stuff like that.
The families of the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing did such an amazing job of telling the story from their perspective. It would take a lot of healing to be able to discuss what they went through in so much detail. They seemed to understand the larger role that the loss of their daughters played in the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. Instead of giving up their cause like the bombers wanted, what happened to them became motivation for why the movement must continue. Several of the people in the film talked about how although they believed in the cause, they weren't willing to march because of the risks. I wonder how many people who thought that way took more action following this tragedy.