City Council hears from 2020 Task Force

By Dan DuChene
Jan. 28, 2009    ·    2:16 a.m.

Nearly two years after it was created by City Council, the Ypsilanti 2020 Task Force made its final presentation Tuesday night.

Stemming from Paul Schreiber’s 2006 mayoral race, the 11-member group was charged with looking into the city’s “long-term challenges and opportunities for the city.”

The presentation for City Council lasted more than two hours and was broken into eight different portions, each a different area the group had focused on during discussions. Different members of the group made their own presentations on the areas he or she were deemed experts in.

“Keep in mind, you wanted us to vision 11 years into the future,” said Gary Clark, the task force’s chair, “not way out there were things get silly and unachievable.”

Clark laid out the vision his group had reached for Ypsilanti in 2020. He described a “vibrant and self-sufficient” small Michigan city.

“Through careful observation of current economic and social factors, Ypsilanti has instituted policies consistent with a changing world,” he said

Working toward a “live-in philosophy,” Clark said the task force’s vision of Ypsilanti was of a self-sustaining, thriving entertainment destination.

“Ypsilanti is a leader in marrying green technology and historic preservation,” Clark said in his prediction.

The categories laid out by the group were heritage preservation, places to live, green spaces, commercial districts, economic development through arts, transportation, life cycles and entertainment.

Each category was given its own time in the presentation, but the group defined some key elements to highlight at both the beginning and end of the presentation. These items included finding ways to highlight Ypsilanti’s diverse heritage and culture, strengthening and supporting neighborhood associations and nurturing commercial districts.

The group also discussed maintaining and expanding free wireless internet, strengthening the city’s partnership with Eastern Michigan University, fostering an economic viable arts culture, connecting and restoring green spaces, continuing exploration into regional light rail connections and creating a city-wide trolley to connect different portions of the city.

Presenters in each of the segments laid out the significance of their portion and ways to implement the vision.

“All of us have made a commitment,” Clark said.
“We intend to shepherd along some of these ideas,” he said. “We’re not dumping this all on you.”

Clark invited City Council members to pick through the report, laid out in a three-ring binder for each member, and ask questions and pursue items with individual task force members.

“Each of us has personal projects we want to embark on,” he said.

Schreiber said the group had been faced with “an enormous task,” and commended the group for their work.

“I know you put in a lot of time,” he said.