What's Next, Alexandria? A Community Conversation about Civic Engagement & Planning for the Future
What's Next, Alexandria?
What's Next, Alexandria? is a City of Alexandria initiative to begin a conversation about how Alexandrians can best participate in shaping Alexandria's future. Because we're focused on civic engagement, ACTion Alexandria was happy to team up with the City to help them embark on a process to develop citywide principles of engagement to guide future City initiatives.
How Does This Online Discussion Fit In?
Our hope is that the What's Next, Alexandria? poll served as a conversation starter for the community (you can take the poll here, if you haven't already taken it). This online forum is a way for all of us to continue the discussion about civic engagement efforts by the City, both in terms of your personal experience and your suggestions for improvement. Your feedback is public and will be shared with the Civic Engagement Interdepartmental Team made up of City employees and community members as a part of the What's Next, Alexandria? process.
Post Your Idea
Post your idea in the public forum and/or vote on the ideas you like. You can submit 1 idea or several. To post your idea, click "Add Your Idea" below. If you are not already a member of ACTion Alexandria. you will be prompted to register.
Vote for Ideas
Each registered member of ACTion Alexandria has three votes to assign anyway they choose. Vote for your favorite idea three times, vote once for three different ideas--it's up to you. If you are not already a member of ACTion Alexandria. you will be prompted to register.
The Rules
- Civility is golden here. We'll remove questions and comments deemed not to adhere to our community guidelines. Individuals who repeatedly violate our community quidelines may be removed.
- Real people use real names.
- The most valuable feedback is constructive feedback. Pontificating, accusations, and insults will not be tolerated in this forum.
We agree that government works best when community members and the government work as partners; effective civic engagement is essential to achieve and sustain an effective partnership and a thriving community. So, don't be shy. Share your ideas for promoting effective civic engagement in Alexandria!
Ideas
Attending a meeting at city hall means blocking out a large chunk of time in your schedule, finding child care, looking for parking, sitting in a room full of people you don't know, and then waiting for the ONE issue you're interested in to be brought up. For greater participation, the City of...
We need a better framework for engaging citizens and gathering input when it comes to massive development or mega-projects. When it comes to these types of issues, there are simply too many sub-groups/meetings to keep track of. Take the West End, for example: There's the BRAC Working Group and...
Let's talk about how we, the commuters that love to work in the area, can get involved. I am not sure exactly how to do this but I would like to participate and am not sure how to go about it ...or even if I am welcome? I get asked about "do I live in Alexandria?" a lot and so I am not...
If you really want to get more of the community involved in planning for the future of Alexandria, a great way to draw people in is free food. I realize that costs money, but it probably doesn't have to be anything fancy. Cheap finger food, maybe a cookout. This will definitely pull in a much...
I appreciate the opportunity to provide ideas for improved civic engagement in planning for the future.
These are random thoughts based on a level of frustration with the current process.
The goal of a public participation process is to reach a generally acceptable agreement...
If you really want to get more of the community involved in planning for the future of Alexandria, a great way to draw people in is free food. I realize that costs money, but it probably doesn't have to be anything fancy. Cheap finger food, maybe a cookout. This will definitely pull in a much...
Attending a meeting at city hall means blocking out a large chunk of time in your schedule, finding child care, looking for parking, sitting in a room full of people you don't know, and then waiting for the ONE issue you're interested in to be brought up. For greater participation, the City of...
We need a better framework for engaging citizens and gathering input when it comes to massive development or mega-projects. When it comes to these types of issues, there are simply too many sub-groups/meetings to keep track of. Take the West End, for example: There's the BRAC Working Group and...
Let's talk about how we, the commuters that love to work in the area, can get involved. I am not sure exactly how to do this but I would like to participate and am not sure how to go about it ...or even if I am welcome? I get asked about "do I live in Alexandria?" a lot and so I am not...
I appreciate the opportunity to provide ideas for improved civic engagement in planning for the future.
These are random thoughts based on a level of frustration with the current process.
The goal of a public participation process is to reach a generally acceptable agreement...