Monday, October 30, 2006

Group in Emmaus wants to hear from you, young professionals.

People who live and work in Emmaus want their downtown to be clean and safe, attractive to young and old, and a hub for arts, restaurants and fitness. That was the conclusion from a ''Community Visioning'' workshop Saturday that was sponsored by Borough Council in conjunction with Penn State University's Hamer Center for Community Design.

After the presentations, workshop participants went into groups to discuss and vote on priorities from a list of 15 ''preliminary development directions.''

Students Matt Bird and Kristin Van Horn said residents and community groups concurred that the ''triangle,'' where Fourth and Main/Chestnut streets converge, needs to be improved; traffic slowed or diverted; and parking expanded.

The consensus was to work on a standard street banner, trees and benches to unify the downtown image; create a youth or community center to increase activity; and improve the safety and appearance of the triangle.

Student Chris Donohue said that few responses of a local survey came from residents ages 18-25. It would be good to hear from people in that age group to know what they want, he said.

Borough manager Bruce Fosselman encouraged Emmaus residents who have not yet completed a survey to do so online at http://www.borough.emmaus.pa.us or obtain one from borough hall, the public library or senior citizen high-rise.

This is a summary of an article at mcall.com.

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