Nation's Cities - January 30, 2012

8 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
January 30, 2012

Showcase, from page 4

showcases a broad variety of
works, ranging from European
and Latin American art masters
to outstanding contemporary
artists. The free Gallery Night
Trolley allows residents and
visitors to discover what’s hap-
pening in the world of art in
the city by taking them directly
to the galleries’ front doors.
Since May 2011, on the
first Friday of every month,
the dedicated trolley — which
makes use of existing resources
by revamping a trolley system
dating to the 1920s — operates
on a fixed route, transporting
people for free from gallery to
gallery.
The trolley was implement-
ed in response to low Gallery
Night attendance and partici-
pation. It attracts more visi-
tors, helping them find and
easily access participating gal-
leries, and encouraging them to
use municipal parking garages,
thereby freeing up on-street
parking, while still experienc-
ing downtown Coral Gables.
The number of participat-
ing galleries has increased from
three to 18. Since its creation,
the Gallery Night Trolley’s
route has been streamlined,
cutting the round-trip time by
half and bringing added focus
on the downtown and galler-
ies that were not in the city’s
regular trolley route. For visi-
tor convenience, informative
maps and brochures are avail-
able on the trolley, at galleries
and online.
Northeast Central
Durham Livability
Initiative - Partnership
for Sustainable
Communities - Durham,
N.C.
to work in concert with city,
as well as state, local and fed-
eral government. Together,
these groups implement sus-
tainable projects and programs
throughout NECD, an area of
approximately 279 inner city
blocks, which has suffered from
disinvestment over the past 30
to 40 years. Like many other
communities, it was dissected
by a highway system as a result
of urban renewal programs in
the 1970s.
Melva Henry, NECD com-
munity engagement manager,
explains that this low-wealth
community has been harvest-
ing its greatest asset: commu-
nity leaders. When the program
began in 2009, approximate-
ly 125 stakeholders came to
the table to develop the four
focus areas. According to urban
designer and NECD resident
Wanona Satcher, it has been
“very encouraging to see com-
munity engagement as part
of the planning process and
have citizens speak the same
language I do … and using
that language to tell city offi-
cials and other individuals, and
establish those private-public
partnerships to really make our
city sustainable.”
Satcher explains that the
program seeks to “reestablish or
reknit the urban fabric to bring
people back into the commu-
nity,” while focusing on the
many significant issues at stake,
including small businesses, sus-
tainable development, housing,
transportation, ecological resto-
ration and food justice.

Highland
Communications
Services - Highland, Ill.

The Northeast Central
Durham (NECD) Livability
Initiative – Partnership for
Sustainable Communities is
a community-driven collabo-
ration implemented in tan-
dem with the Departments
of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) and
Transportation (DOT) and
the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to coordinate
housing, transportation and
to protect the environment.
The City of Durham, N.C.,
Department of Neighborhood
Improvement Services supports
this community-led initia-
tive along with six other city
departments.
The NECD Livability
Initiative is composed of
four resident-driven focus
areas: ( 1) Coordinated Public
Transportation; ( 2) Economic
and Workforce Development;
( 3) Multi-functional Green
Spaces; and ( 4) Safe and
Healthy Environment.
The project, approximately
a year and a half old, is getting
neighborhoods and commu-
nity members actively involved
in public policy, by provid-
ing them with opportunities
Highland Communication
Services (HCS) is a munici-
pally owned telecommunica-
tions company that provides
advanced fiber optic services,
including voice, data and video,
to the Highland, Ill., commu-
nity to serve the needs of local
businesses and residents. HCS
was developed in response to
citizens’ overwhelming enthusi-
asm for creating a fiber-to-the-
premises system. The growing
organization strives to improve
Highland’s quality of life and
strengthen business opportuni-
ties.

Joint Wastewater
Treatment Facility -
Lexington, S.C.

2012
www.nlc.org Register now for the best rates!
Reasons you should attend the 2012
CongRessional City ConfeRenCe
• Hear from some of our nation’s leading minds in the general sessions
• Break out into workshops where you’ll learn real solutions and best practices
• Meet other city leaders facing similar challenges to your community
• Sharpen your leadership skills at a pre-conference Leadership Training
Institute seminar
• Take advantage of being in Washington, DC and meet with your
Congressman or officials from government agencies
• Learn from NLC partners about programs that can offer your city and residents
value-added solutions and ways to stretch the city budget
The Town of Lexington and
the City of Cayce, S.C., as well
as the Lexington County Joint
Municipal Water and Sewer
Commission, have unanimous-
ly agreed and begun moving
forward on construction of a
new 25 million-gallon-per-day
(MGD), state-of-the-art waste-
water treatment facility.
The project will expand the
City of Cayce’s existing treat-
ment capacity, which currently
accommodates 9.2 MGD on
the Congaree River. That facil-
ity has already seen $2 million
of investment in recent years.
The new plant will serve the
majority of Lexington County,
and each participant will be
paying for their “projected”
capacity for treatment, with
Lexington investing 48.9 per-
cent, Cayce at 31.7 percent and
the Joint Water Commission at
18.5 percent.
While regional consolidation
is the primary goal, Lexington’s
Events & Media Coordinator,
Jennifer Dowden, explained
that the region’s expanded
growth — 83 percent in the
last 10 years — calls for an
upgrade in infrastructure.
“Building partnerships is
our number one key,” Dowden
said. “Making sure we’re
together with our neighbor-
ing communities in providing
the citizens with the best ser-
vice possible.” She added that
the construction of the facil-
ity, which is expected to be
operational in the summer of
2012, has already created 100
construction jobs.

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