Many of you already know that I am employed as an urban planner with the City of Huntsville. You may also know that I am part of the team working on the Big Picture comprehensive planning effort for the City. My duties include maintaining the website and writing a bi-weekly "What We're Reading" and newsletter series. We are fortunate to have such an engaged citizenry here-- to date, we've spoken to more than fifty groups throughout the city and held more than a dozen public events. This year, we plan to continue the public outreach, and introduce a draft plan.
With time comes more responsibilities. As we've delved deeper into the plan, my time has become more limited, with less time to write blog posts and answer readers' questions. I've held out hope that one day I would have the time like I did in college to write in-depth posts on a regular basis, but I now realize that isn't going to happen. This will be my last post on Huntsville Development News. The blog will remain online for archival purposes, but there will be no new posts. The Facebook page and Development Map will shut down this month (January 2016), while the Twitter feed will remain active as my personal account.
Just in case you're wondering about where else to find out about projects, here are some resources to keep in mind:
- The monthly Development Review posts will continue on the BIG Picture website. Check out the December edition here: http://bigpicturehuntsville.com/development-review-1215/ You can be notified of new posts by subscribing to the newsletter, or liking the BIG Picture Huntsville on Facebook.
- The Huntsville Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has a map of transportation projects that require state and federal funding within the next 15 years. It's updated every other month. The map is full of information on construction start/finish dates and costs.
- Many of you have come here (and to the Facebook page) for details on upcoming retail and restaurant projects in the area. While I can't give you a specific source, check your favorite local media outlet for announcements. Google is also very helpful with those questions.
The blog became more popular than I ever would have imagined. I have had the privilege of meeting many of you over the years. Thank you for reading these past 8 years, and I hope to see you again soon. --James
