Good snowy morning,
Thanks to all of you who attended last night’s meeting. With over 25 people attending, I think it was a great success, but it would always be great to get more people to come, so please spread the word!
I wanted to specifically thank Lisa Peterson, George Fernandes, Estella Johnson, and Henrietta Davis. It has been wonderful how accessible and open you have been with us – I feel very fortunate to be living in Cambridge where all of you are willing to come to our meetings. We look forward to continuing to work together on these projects to improve our community. I also want to thank the Cambridge Police Department who has attended each meeting and has been extremely supportive of the group’s concerns.
We came up with a lot of “to dos” last night but I need help putting them into action –I think we can see how our efforts can make a difference. The discussion of improving lighting alone sounds so promising!
Topics included: snow removal, trash pick-up, street light outages, lighting for ambiance and safety, creating a centralized number for residents to call, similar to 311, creating a more family friendly community, and collaborating with other Central Square area projects, such as Central Square Business Association, Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association, Red Ribbon Commission, and others.
I promised to make a list of next steps, and please let me know if you are able, willing, or interested in helping with these efforts.
1) Draft a letter to landlords who have vacant storefronts requesting that they improve the appearance through lighting, art exhibitions etc. We need to determine which buildings are relevant and who owns them. We may be able to get much of this information from Estella? Although I am not sure. I would like to have a letter to sent to each owner signed from Vision Central Square and put the pressure on them from somebody other than the City.
2) Reach out to the Central Square Business Association. Invite members to a meeting, discuss shared interests (lighting storefronts, cleaning, etc.)
3) Look into requesting/requiring that business keep their lights on to improve street lighting until an agreed upon time, per somebody’s suggestion.
3) Finding a graduate intern to help with these efforts – I think it would be a great project, but I haven’t connected with anybody yet. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.
4) Reach out to the artist responsible for the dancing lights, lets push the idea of keeping that lighting or creating new lights up throughout the year.
I am sure I am forgetting something, so please let me know if you remember something else (Saul??).
The next meeting will be about safety concerns in Central Square.
I will send out the meeting date as soon as it is determined.
Thanks so much,
Rachel Gunther
