Read Part 1 ... Part 2 The local chapter of AARP 2831’s Livable Community Committee performed a driving/walking audit to determine just how age- or disability appropriate is the Village of Potsdam. These are our findings (and there are certain to be more). Feel free to use this as a template to determine your own community’s efforts. COMMUNICATION Communication is an integral part of marketing, however, in recent years, with the introduction of the Internet, a wealth of information can be made readily available to consumers in an instant. Because of this, strategic communication has shifted from its previous position as a helpful marketing tool, to an essential one. • Need community members to be more active in Village events? Make sure they know when events/decisions are happening • Repetition is crucial to communicating strategically. An organization’s intended message gains clarity the more it is affirmed. • To communicate effectively, there should be proactive participation; an ability to learn from others; and listening rather than hearing • The Village website needs to be constantly updated • Advertise Board or other Village meetings/events in North Country This Week on a regular basis. Once a year is lost the first time the roster is printed and the newspaper is tossed • Who is going to walk up the Village Office steps to look at a 8.5 by 11 document • Make sure the elevator on the lower level is working to allow for residents to attend Board Meetings. It communicates to the community that their opinions are valuable and wanted STREETS • Curb cuts are needed at all crosswalks throughout the business and residential areas Ensure all meters are working or eliminate them. Ensuring they are turned toward the sidewalk is better than facing the street (so you don’t have to stand between your car and the meter) or find a modernized system.
• Address the width of the lanes. Example: The lane is very narrow (open car door swings into driving lane) directly in front of IGA and Post Office but extra wide in front of Jernabi’s • Maple trees are not street trees. Most have been cut into over streets to ensure wires are cleared. This leaves the weight when the tree falls toward the residences. Whose liability? • Too little accessible parking downtown • Eliminate two parking places on Main Street on either side of the Clarkson driveway from Damon/Peyton. If you are leaving the CU grounds, you have to pull into the street to see around the cars. Simply eliminate the parked vehicles. • Change the too-dim bulbs on all street lights. Ensure the street lights are at the entrance to business driveways so a driver can easily find where to enter the property. • Create a bicycle lane on the entirety of Market Street to protect bicyclists where there are no sidewalks OR rewrite laws to give bicyclists the right to ride on sidewalks – even if they have to legally get off their bike to give the right-a-way to pedestrians. • Ensure curbs in residential areas are sufficiently high enough to direct rain water to drainage systems • Potholes: if you think hitting one in a car is bad, consider what it’s like on a bike or motorcycle! HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE • Nearly all businesses downtown have steps. This is a problem for seniors, someone with crutches or in a wheelchair, baby strollers, etc. Install ramps or eliminate the step up. • Install electronic door openers outside businesses • Provide elevator access so residents can access Village Offices for Bd Mtgs. • Consider allowing anyone with a car to turn in the vehicle (or not bring it to Potsdam) to receive a credit for transportation service. SIDEWALKS • Eliminate the pear, honey locust or maple trees – or other messy trees - in all areas of the Village. In all cases, these are not just messy, but droppings can become slimy increasing the potential for slipping/falling (does the Village become liable for medical expenses?); plugs up street drainage, makes a mess in neighborhoods, downtown, and residential areas, etc. • Need to address/fix older broken/heaved/sandstone sidewalks that force residents to walk in the street – a terrible idea in winter months. • Educate the public by providing signage that expresses the history and development of Potsdam • Replace the sign at the corner of Depot and Market Streets. The signage is too small to be read easily about the businesses that are available down Depot Street. PARKS • Ives Park has a beautiful potential to be used for various events and venues, but the dog and goose poop is heinous! Ever tried to clean up a two-year-old who slipped and fell in their gunk? • Advertise and direct persons to other potential spaces. • Find ways to create park-like spaces around the Village where people can rest or congregate BUSINESS AESTHETICS • Add plants in place of small trees downtown or on store fronts • Keep sidewalks clean in front of businesses and households • Have employees park in lots rather than on metered streets • Remove snow from sidewalks from curb to edge of the plowed sidewalk. This is a problem especially in front of IGA and the Post Office. Because the sidewalk doesn’t get cleaned, one has to walk to the end of the side walk closes to the bank or all the say down the street to the drive of IGA. Either way it’s dangerous in the winter! • Create a work bank: individuals who would be willing to volunteer to help answer a request to get someone to a medical appointment, Walmart, banking, lunch, etc. shovel a sidewalk, rake a yard, etc. • Create bicycle or moped rentals HOUSING • Tax Base – can the cost be lowered? • Home retrofits / Housing Diversity helps ensure that appropriate housing is available for each state of the life span. • Tiny Homes (allow for Tiny Houses on the property of a few large homes in the Village that would like to have one so they can rent their house to professionals) and/or change laws to allow tiny houses on new property development. • Allow accessory dwelling units. • Give copies of the Landlord rules to renters. In over 40 years of renting, I have never received a certificate from the landlord that s/he is in compliance with Village regulations • Housing choices that are suitable for people of all ages and life styles • Transportation options that enable residents to get around even if they don’t drive. INFRASTRUCTURE • Are zoning laws too restrictive for businesses to engage in downtown • Is it possible to rezone residential areas so a restaurant, a series of homes of different sizes, perhaps repurpose a house for a business in order to create a small community • Integrate land uses so people can live closer/within walking distance of jobs, community activities and services. • Transportation issues for all age groups is a necessity • Reduce automobile dependence and support a socially vibrant public realm • More technology learning opportunities • A decent restaurant (3 or 4 star) with a private room NOT geared to the student drinking crowd • Create a bit of downtown Lake Placid to make Potsdam a shopping destination Submitted on behalf of the Livable Communities Committee of St. Lawrence County Chapter #2831 of AARP, Inc. at [email protected]. Information submitted by by Vicki Clark, Chapter Vice President and Ellen Nichols, the Committee Chair.
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The St. Lawrence County Chapter (SLCC) #2831 is a community of advocacy and volunteers whose purpose is to 1) promote at the local level the priorities, programs and policies specific for the benefit of our seniors, 2) maximize member engagement in a broad menu of services, information and educational activities, 3) demonstrate the contributions and potential of people who are 50+ to encourage their full participation in contemporary life, 4) create fundraising opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency, and 5) stimulate public interest in a variety of issues.
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November 2019
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