WORDS BY ALYSSA STEVENSON, IMAGES BY WESLEY KIRK
The city of Denton, as great as it may be, is a city full of challenges and obstacles to overcome. Whatever the challenge may be, a large part of what lies ahead for us as a city comes from a vision cast by our leadership - not only in government positions but those around us who are actively engaged citizens. Last night candidates for city council and citizens alike were given the opportunity to pitch their own big ideas for Denton. Read on for our top ten big ideas.
1. Megan Miller thinks revitalizing Praire Street could help strengthen ties with South East Denton and help city beautification efforts. A few murals, some sidewalks, and a tree initiative would go a long way in this blighted street. Local artists from South East Denton would be a great place to start sourcing those murals!
2. 2. Habib proposed Denton Innovation Lab, a partnership between private, non-profit,universities and community coordinated and empower by the city to help solve city problems using innovation, technology and data driven approaches with research and development to become smart city.
3. Glen Farris thinks we need a minor league baseball team, and a stadium in the spot that Trinity Industries currently resides in. Give us baseball caps, hot dogs, and lemon chills and we're there.
4. Heather Steele believes that Denton can be a more welcoming and inclusive community for children and families who face the challenges of autism.
5. Patricia Reinke thinks an app that helps drivers identify free parking and open spaces will help with the parking problems downtown. Anyone who has tried to park downtown on a Friday evening probably won't disagree!
6. Chris Ice wants the G. Roland Vela Athletic Complex to come to life so that our students who participate in GOAL can compete and continue to build up their community.
7. Emily White wants to help eradicate homelessness in Denton by moving forward with the Shiloh Village Project. Tiny homes to help house homeless veterans, counseling services and more that would help Denton be more conscience of some of it's most vulnerable citizens.s
8. Fran Hawes proposed creating more opportunities for the growing skateboarding population by providing access to portable skate parks.
9. Tiffany Youngblood wants a stronger DIY music scene in Denton and thinks a great place to start would be putting together a local music council that communicates with the city and musicians to tackle ongoing issues.
10. Midlake murals on dumpsters. Okay, so maybe not that specifically - but Emily White thinks that if we have to have dumpsters as a part of our downtown landscape (or general landscape around town) we may as well clean 'em up and make them look more interesting and reflective of our culture.
This is Glen's vision - which he decided to create a visual for. Bring on the peanuts and crackerjacks!
If you weren't able to make it in person, you can read through our live tweets or check out our video from our Facebook live feed here. No matter what, make sure that you've thought through the ideas that you'd like to see carried out in Denton and make sure your ideas are propelled forward by supporting the city council candidate of your choice on May 6th with your vote. (April 6th is the last day to register to vote!)
You can find more information about the event on our Twitter (choice tweets embedded below), or you can even watch the entire thing from our Facebook Live stream right here: