Hellbender Press - Updated: Your — once in 20 years — opportunity to influence the livability of Knox County

Sunday, 17 April 2022 12:14

Updated: Your — once in 20 years — opportunity to influence the livability of Knox County

Written by Wolf Naegeli

font size decrease font size increase font size
Email

You can still share your own ideas to improve and protect our community Advance Knox

Updated again on May 4: Hundreds of ideas, complaints and comments, many of them with map locations, have been posted on the Advance Knox website.

As announced in Hellbender Press earlier, Advance Knox held a series of public input events across Knox County during its Ideas Week at the end of March.

If you missed those in-person gatherings and could not attend the virtual session, we hope you recorded your preferences and opinions online at the Advance Knox website.

You can now see what others had to say about your neighborhood and your favorite places.

And, even if you already participated, you may have had new ideas or important thoughts not recorded yet. Please let us know,

— what you treasure in Knox County

— what you miss

— what you think is most important to consider as the county keeps growing.

The interactive facility to submit ideas will remain open online through May 10, as suggested at the last Advisory Committee meeting.

It is easy to submit your contributions. You can place markers on a Knox County map and post your thoughts and concerns about each of those spots or areas. You may also comment on specific topics or fill in a general survey … as much or as little as you like.

Contributions from outside of Knox County are invited and welcome, too.

Hints: You may directly scroll down to the map and start by placing dots on the location(s) to which your first idea or comment pertains. Give it a short title for maximum effect.

The first Advance Knox Ideas Week public input session was held at Gibbs Middle School. Atelier N/Hellbender Press

Advance Knox is a comprehensive planning process that will guide land use and transportation decisions for the next 20 years. It will result in the next Knox County General Plan.

Here is a collection of excerpts from official statements released about the plan’s objectives over the past year.

The plan will:

“Incorporate an in-depth analysis of our transportation network, including safety, capacity and multi-modal access;
Analyze population growth projections, land availability and infrastructure conditions;
Address community concerns about how development is impacting infrastructure throughout the county;
Identify areas of Knox County that should be preserved and areas that are appropriate for new growth and investment;
Guide smart public and private investments in infrastructure, as well as neighborhood and community development;
Align land use and transportation goals to create a blueprint for the county’s future; and
Guide decisions about where and how future growth occurs and where investments in infrastructure and services are made in the years to come.”