City of Pasadena's General Plan Open House

I love the City of Pasadena! It's a combination of its "small town" qualities, strong historic preservation and european feel that keeps me feeling romanced.

This past Saturday I found another reason to love Pasadena.

They have proved to be a city who cares about its community: what they think and want from their city for its future. The City of Pasadena held an Open House to share the City's plans for the future, share feedback to date and gather new community feedback.

The Open House was held on Lake Ave in the Macy's courtyard and featured a very fun and relaxing scenario filled with live entertainment,

interactive exhibits, food booths, model of the city, round table discussions, presentations and community booths.

An indoor area featured various exhibits on presentation boards listing the City's summary of the top issues and concerns in all areas of planning from general to transportation to land use. They provided every participant with the opportunity to vote with colored dots for the areas they were in particular agreement with. In addition, if there was a topic not covered that was important to you, you had the opportunity to create your own topic on a post-it note and others could also vote on your issue or concern.

One of my favorite displays was the Youth Exhibit. They had gathered books from various youth organizations filled with issues and concerns from the city's own future - today's youth. It was interesting to see what issues were important to them as they all provided concerns that leaned toward a more sustainable future noting water conservation, recycling, eco-friendly businesses, more open spaces for people to gather and more pedestrian ways as top on their lists. It was very promising to read them.

I enjoyed meeting representatives from the City who all share a passion for what they do. I spent some time chatting with Irma who is involved with the Solar Energy programs and Alice Sterling a Sr Project Manager and Green City Coordinator who also gave a great presentation on "What Makes a Great City Sustainable".

It was a great event that I was happy to have the opportunity to attend. I left feeling very optimistic about the future of this great city and I look forward to being a part of its growth.

To keep up to date with future happenings for the City, become a fan on Facebook under Pasadena General Plan. You can also check their website for updates.

http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/publicaffairs/General%20plan/GP_Rev_2/Gen_Plan_openhouse.asp

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Pasadena Neighborhood Green Fair

Pasadena celebrated a very "Green" Halloween this past Saturday. Sponsored by Neighborhood Church right next door to the wonderful Gamble House. I was very happy to be a part of such a great event as I met a great deal of dedicated and wonderful people.

There was a number of great green vendors and non-profits participating. For a list of contacts, you can visit the Green Fair website:
http://neighborhoodgreenfair.com/

One of my favorite green shops was in attendance: Organic Rush in South Pasadena - they have great green items for your home and body. Check out their site http://www.organicrush.com/

I also want to promote an important upcoming event in Pasadena: the General Plan Open House. Here is an opportunity for residents to participate in the future design of the city by providing feedback and sharing your issues and thoughts as well as enjoy live entertainment, raffles and more activities. Saturday, November 14, 1pm - 5pm
at 345 N Lake Ave and the North Courtyard of Macy's & the shops. I'll be there!
For more information: http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/publicaffairs/General%20plan/GP_Rev_2/Gen_Plan_openhouse.asp

We also raffled off a free Green Home Makeover and are pleased to announce that the winner is Gillian S. Congratulations!

Lastly, I just had to post the photo of the best "green" costume at the Fair. A costume created by all the plastic bags collected through normal shopping activities in one year and made into a very heavy and shockingly large outfit. Not my idea of green couture. Remember small changes make big differences. Be well!