Better Block Middlesborough Wins National CommunityMatters Successful Communities Contest

BETTER BLOCK MIDDLESBOROUGH WINS NATIONAL COMMUNITYMATTERS SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES CONTEST

Discover Downtown Middlesboro Awarded $500 to Make Downtown More Successful

Middlesborough, Kentucky – Better Block Middlesborough won $500 in the CommunityMatters Successful Communities Contest.

CommunityMatters asked people to come together, listen to their free conference call on the Secrets to Successful Communities with Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute, then decide on one completely achievable action for making their community more successful.  To sweeten the deal, the Orton Family Foundation sponsored the contest by offering $500 to four communities that came up with an idea or strategy for success.  The Orton Family Foundation works to build vibrant, enduring communities in the Northeast and Rocky Mountain West.

Better Block Middlesborough was chosen from among 16 entrants in the competition for the unique way that it is helping to address community challenges and build a more vibrant future.   Selected by online public voting, the four winning entries are:

-          Middlesboro, Kentucky (pop. 10,334): Discover Downtown Middlesboro plans to use temporary demonstrations to test out pop-up businesses, transform vacant lots, set up public seating in high traffic areas, and install signs that highlight future improvements. The two-day Better Block-style demonstration project will bring neighbors together to experience and envision the great potential for downtown.  

-          Silverton, Oregon (pop. 9,222): With a desire to inspire ongoing conversations about real and lasting community change, the Upstream Arts Collective plans to host curated conversations about the art of neighboring. Local community collaborators and neighborhood practitioners will share their stories in a fun and collaborative atmosphere.

-          Medfield, Massachusetts (pop. 12,024): Working to create a vibrant downtown, the Medfield Cultural District plans to revitalize an underutilized pocket park with community art. The project will ask community members to write their ideas for the park on a large chalkboard set up downtown. They also plan to do an art installation through the park featuring portraits of residents. 

-          Mountain View, Arkansas (pop. 2,748): A county seat characterized by a mix of artisans, professionals, retirees, retail and service occupations, this small town is an established tourist destination. People in Mountain View love to gather and play music of all sorts, and they do so nearly every weekend when the weather is good.  But traditional music is being lost to the prominence of more modern sounds; even the Arkansas Folk Festival is no longer truly “folk.” This group plans to create a music festival that will showcase traditional styles, seeking to protect local heritage and educate people about true old-time music.

DDM Executive Director Isaac Kremer said, “We are thrilled to have been the top vote getter nationally and to have received such strong support from our members, partners, and friends. As encouraging as this win is, we’re excited to show real results for the downtown one month from now.”

Want to volunteer to become part of the positive change happening downtown? Pick the shifts you want during the Better Block event using this online form.

Visit http://woobox.com/5omwgq to see the entrants and winners.

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About Discover Downtown Middlesboro

Discover Downtown Middlesboro (DDM) was founded in 2006. Concerned business owners, building owners, and residents came together to start this organization as a response to the perception of decline downtown. Very early on the organization chose the Four-Point Approach®  established by the National Main Street Center. This approach emphasizes grassroots community action in areas including: Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.

Revitalization efforts gained greater intensity and focus in 2012. The organization acquired a major 27,000 square foot building downtown to renovate. The project is in the pre-development stage now and the desired outcome is to include residential housing on the upper floors and civic/community use on the ground floor. Groundwork is being laid to restore the historic canal that passes through town, as well as to create a walking and biking trail that connects the downtown with the nearby Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. www.downtownmiddlesboro.org

About CommunityMatters

CommunityMatters is an interactive exchange for individuals and organizations working to engage citizens and build strong, vibrant communities from the ground up. CommunityMatters fuels a growing network of leaders, thinkers and doers in a variety of disciplines – planning, sustainability, health, democracy, education, economic development, and the arts. CommunityMatters is a project of the Orton Family Foundation, in collaboration with other partners. www.communitymatters.org

About The Orton Family Foundation

The Orton Family Foundation believes that empowering people to shape the future of their communities will improve local decision-making, create a shared sense of belonging, and ultimately strengthen the social, cultural and economic vibrancy of each place. Orton helps communities navigate change by offering programs and tools that engage diverse groups of residents in collaborative discussions and decision-making driven by what they love most about their town—its “heart and soul.” www.orton.org

Help Middlesboro Win $500 in the CommunityMatters Listening Party, Aug 22, 3pm

Downtown Middlesboro will be among a handful of communities nationally to participate in the CommunityMatters Listening Party next Thursday, August 22, 2013, at 3pm. Community leaders and our partners will come together at that time to discuss how we can translate all of our ideas for our community into real and concrete action.

The timing for this national event could not be better. Middlesboro is just finishing a Strategic Plan to guide improvements in the downtown area for the next five years. Similarly, a Historic Preservation Plan is being completed. Finally, through the Appalachian Rural Development Philanthropy Initiative work is being done to encourage community philanthropy in Bell County. The CommunityMatters Listening Party will help to bring all of these ideas into focus as we go about translating our vision into real improvements downtown.

Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute

Ed McMahon will be the featured speaker for the event. He is an attorney, community planner, lecturer and author. McMahon is currently Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., where he holds the Charles Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development. During the past 25 years Ed has helped communities in all 50 states with a wide variety of community planning and economic development issues. Also joining us will be leaders from the University of Kentucky Landscape Architecture Department and the Community & Leadership Development Program; and faculty and students from Lincoln Memorial University.

Ed has found that every successful community shares some common characteristics – these are the secrets he’ll share on the CommunityMatters call. Ed’s secrets aren’t quick fixes or silver bullets, but instead recommendations for how every city and town can capitalize on distinctive assets to be successful.

1. Have a vision for the future
2. Inventory community assets and build on them
3. Use education and incentives, not just regulation
4. Pick and choose among development projects
5. Cooperate with neighbors for mutual benefit
6. Pay attention to community aesthetics
7. Have strong leaders and committed citizens

Following the Listening Party we will have just over a week to submit a photograph of our Listening Party and a one-page drawing illustrating the vision we have for downtown. This will make Middlesboro eligible to compete for a $500 prize against more than a dozen other communities across the U.S.

Mike Lydon, Principal,
Street Plans Collaborative

Later that night at 7pm, Middlesboro will be participating in a conference call with Mike Lydon from Street Plans Collaborative based in New York and Miami. Mike will guide us through the planning for a Build a Better Block event in October. This event will transform a single block in downtown Middlesboro through performing two dozen improvements for $1,000 in a 48 hour period. These short-term improvements are hoped to plant the seeds for long-term change.

The location for both the Listening Party and the later Conference Call will be in the Distance Learning Lab in the J. Frank White Academy of Lincoln Memorial University. This is right behind the President's House. Please leave adequate time before the event to find parking on campus.

For those who want to participate in either call, please contact Discover Downtown Middlesboro at (606) 248-6155 or via our website at www.downtownmiddlesboro.org. We are also on Facebook and Twitter at "DDMBoro."

About CommunityMatters
CommunityMatters® equips cities and towns to strengthen their places and inspire change. As an alliance of leaders in the community building field, CommunityMatters champions the notion that people have the power to solve their community’s problems and shape its future. We facilitate  connections, provide education and infuse inspiration at the local level.