Brighton Residents Help Shape City's Future

City Council member and Envision Brighton Committee member Claudia Roblee acted as a voice for Brighton residents at last night's city council meeting as she relayed the findings from the Envision Brighton World Cafe Forum that was held Jan. 17.

More than 100 residents and local business owners attended the envisioning forum that was held with one purpose in mind: sculpting the future of downtown Brighton.

Attendees that night were met with tables covered in paper, littered with markers — a blank canvas for them to sketch their hopes and ideas for what Brighton could and should be, as they saw it in their eyes.

Several focused questions were posed to the audience both as a whole, as well as in smaller discussion groups to help direct discussion. Hundreds of suggestions from the eager attendees were expressed, and reappearing themes and ideas began to surface, said Roblee.

Following the forum, those reappearing themes and ideas were categorized and put into a matrix that delegates what type of government body would responsible for each issue.

Cultural Economic Development

Roblee said that families are looking for activities and events downtown that they can enjoy together all year round. Ideas were to turn Mill Pond Park into a a place for ice skating in the winter, and “splash pads” in the summer.

Many residents would also like to see Mill Pond Park used for activities geared towards children, such as puppet shows, outdoor movies and maybe even child karaoke.

Roblee says that there was a strong desire to expand our cultural base with ideas like adding a community theater downtown, similar to the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea.

“People want to see more comedy, live music and theater productions. People want a triple treat; They want to shop, eat and see a show,” Roblee said.

Physical Design and Walkability

 It's no secret that there isn't a single green park in Brighton, and residents want to see more green space.

“More green is a big thing — more flowers and trees, more benches on the sidewalks, wider sidewalks and water fountains,” Roblee said.

Mill Pond Park is a large area of consideration, according to Roblee. She said that suggestions ranged from upgrading the gazebo area, to building a fire pit in the park.

Roblee says there was also a general consensus that geese control in Mill Pond is paramount to making the area an enjoyable place to hang out.

Entrepreneurship

Food carts on Main Street to provide lunch to local businesses, vendors on the boardwalk, specialty stores and more residential options were some of the suggestions to help generate revenue for the downtown area.

“One item that came up quite often ... is housing and density. Many comments came through about needing residential development utilizing three- and four- story buildings and green mixed use with residential components,” Roblee said.

Multicultralism

Many comments were fielded concerning Brighton developing its own identity, with hopes that younger generations will uphold traditions, Roblee said.

“Downtown should be a space that is used to socialize both with people we know and people we don't know. Events should welcome and include people of all ages from the very young to seniors, and cultural traditions could be celebrated with events downtown,” Roblee said.

Messaging and Technology

One of the major ideas under this category is to turn the entire downtown area into a WiFi zone. This could make the downtown more attractive to young professionals, Roblee said.

It was also suggested that digital banners informing residents of events and happenings should be added to the posts downtown, as well as a speaker system.

Transit

It was suggested to connect the downtown area and the surrounding state recreation areas, Metroparks and subdivisions with bike paths. Residents see the addition of bike racks to downtown as a necessity, Roblee said.

Education

The idea to bring higher education to Brighton in the form of a community college was also suggested. Being situated in the intersection of I-96 and US-23, many residents view Brighton as a potential addition to the existing “University corridor” of Eastern Michigan University, The University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

Headed in the Right Direction

Roblee said she was surprised and excited to hear that many of the ideas and suggestions at the Jan. 17  forum, City Council was already hard at work on. She says that at the end of the forum she was overwhelmed by the amount of people who approached her willing to volunteer asking where they can help.

And though at the beginning of what seems to be a long transformation process for Brighton, with more envisioning forums likely, Council Member Shawn Pipoly said that with the help of citizens the city now has the direction needed to help shape Brighton's future into exactly what its residents want.

“This was a monumental task to get it to this point. We have taken input from over 100 people from in and around the community and established a list of what the people want. For the first time in city of Brighton's history we have a list of things that the people want to see and the direction they want us to go — en masse. We have our menu here, we have our orders,” Pipoly said.