It's time for trains in downtown Cedar Rapids to be eliminated. It's the last sentence in an article by Rick Smith in The Gazette on the latest talk on the Cedar Rapids Council talks of buyouts and levees.
Citizens have been talking about eliminating the trains, since the 196os. But, the real challenge is rebuilding and re planning the river front and the areas of Cedar Rapids impacted by the Flood of 2008.
What role do zoning and planning commissions play in the rebuild Cedar Rapids efforts? Will the citizens of Cedar Rapids play a key role in the rebuilding process. Open houses certainly provide a role for citizen feedback, but with citizen commissions be a part of the redevelopment process.
Yesterday, 35 city officials, consultants, federal agency representatives and a City Council met to discuss flood protection and property buyouts. It will be a slow process. As mentioned, clarity may be a slow byproduct as well.
It will be interesting to see what the City Council does in using Citizen Advisory Boards and Commissions in the flood mitigation and rebuild process. Citizens are a key component in the zoning and planning process over the years.
Where will the Flood of 2008 take our public policy discussions? The role of the consultant has certainly expanded in Cedar Rapids pre-flood. What role will citizen boards and commissions play in the flood mitigation plans?
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