An Invitation: The First Suburbs project

The First Suburbs project is hosting an event next Thursday, April 29th at the Media
Community Center. The details are below but, in short, the premise is that First
Suburbs is an advocacy group that has chosen the 3 issues that affect inner ring suburbs like ours. The 3 policy points are: Housing, Education Finance, and Infrastructure.

The purpose of these events is to gather as many people as possible and to invite our legislatures to see the crowd we can gather. The crowd impresses upon our elected officials that we are all voters, and that these issues are important to us hence they should listen to us.

Its pretty powerful stuff and I have seen real progress in my favorite topic of all,
Education, although, honestly, as a resident of a inner ring suburb, all the issues are important to my family and community.

I am asking you to attend this event with me. Its a very structured event and I am betting you get a good feeling from the positiveness in the room.

Thanks ahead for considering my ask...

Event Details:

April 29, 2010 , 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Media Community Center, 301 N. Jackson Street, Media, PA 19063

First Suburbs has these meetings because:
The First Suburbs Project will hold three regional public meetings throughout southeastern Pennsylvania between April and June. Each public meeting will address our unified issue agenda and secure support from key decision-makers for specific policy that impacts our communities. Legislators, administrators and gubernatorial candidates will be asked to join with us to ensure that infrastructure, housing, and education policies and funding mechanisms recognize that stabilizing and revitalizing our older developed suburbs is vital to the prosperity of our communities and of our entire region. Building on our most recent large public forum and drill and give emphasis to current specific policy and opportunities. The public meetings are designed to get our voices heard and demonstrate the power of our communities and our coalition. All organizations and community members who care about the future of our townships and boroughs should be present.

The First Suburbs message is:
The message that we’ve taken to our elected leaders is that policies proposed in legislation must take into consideration the needs of older built-out suburbs like those in southeastern Pennsylvania. We are emphasizing that the entire metropolitan area’s health and vitality is tied to the prosperity of the older suburbs. In the past, federal policies in housing, transportation, infrastructure and education – the issues that we’ve adopted as our own – have focused on addressing problems in the urban center and in expanding opportunities in the newer suburbs, skipping over the older suburbs. The Brookings Institution refers to this as a "policy blind spot" because it ignores the plight of our older first-ring suburbs. In our efforts to educate policymakers, we can change this practice and ensure that appropriate policies help guide federal funding through strategic priorities designed to strengthen older, asset rich communities like ours.

For more information on the First Suburbs Project, contact Angela Clinton
Southeastern PA First Suburbs Project, 267.977.9654, angela.firstsuburbs@gmail.com