Neighborhood Symposium set for May 2

City of Greenville 5th Annual Neighborhood Symposium

Uniting Neighborhoods for Quality of Life

Saturday, May 2 at 9:00am to 2:00pm

Greenville City Hall, City Council Chambers

200 West Fifth Street Greenville NC

The City of Greenville’s 5th Annual Neighborhood Symposium sponsored by the Neighborhood Advisory Board will be held May 2, at Greenville City Hall. The theme of the  is Uniting Neighborhoods for Quality of Life and will feature a creative and hands-on approach for civic education.

ECU students in PLAN 4025: Housing and Neighborhood Planning, Spring 2015, carried out an engaged outreach project seeking cooperative and collaborative learning. Partnered with NAB, students produced a documentary film titled, “Get involved! Preserve your neighborhood.” The film will be presented at the symposium.

The purpose of the film is three fold: 1) for the city, it is an opportunity to educate the public about planning, rezoning process, and regulations; 2) for the community members, it is an opportunity to learn when and how the public can be involved in the decision-making process; and 3) for the students, it is an opportunity to relate theory to practice, to distinguish and to synthesize the assets of the community from the cooperative efforts, and to be actively involved in the symposium.

The film documented how a rezoning request begins and proceeds with highlights of the impact on communities. The project seeks an answer to a question, “When a similar situation happens near your neighborhood, what can you and your community do?”

The documentary is composed of a mock Planning and Zoning committee meeting (acted by students, members of NAB, and city staffs) and interviews with various stakeholders including City Council members, city planners, a Planning and Zoning [P&Z] member, a former Board of Adjustment chair, community members, and a commercial realtor/developer. For a quality film production, the ECU Multimedia Center puts the pieces together and provides a professional editing service.

For more information, please contact Dr. Misun Hur, Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at 252-328-1270 or hurmi@ecu.edu.