YP Community Tour: Past, Present, Future
We’ve focused on downtown/nightlife enhancement and the arts – now it’s your turn to help us determine what’s next! And we’re hitting the road for your input.
On four different Thursday evenings in June, the public is invited to participate in the “YP Community Tour: Past, Present, Future.” The events will begin at 5:30 p.m. in each city.
- June 1 - at Riverbank Theatre in Marine City
- June 8 - at War Water Brewery in St. Clair
- June 15 - at the Lexington Village Pub & Theatre
- June 29 - at Casey’s Pizza in Port Huron – and our tour finale celebration!
“By hosting this event we not only want to celebrate everything we have done as a group and what we love about our hometowns, but capture the conversations so many have about staying committed to our towns and the great future we all want here,” said Jackie Hanton, vice president of the BWYP.
Back in 2011 the Blue Water Young Professionals hosted an I Will Stay If... party to share with our local and state leaders a new take on what our cities need in order to be successful. It’s also how we determined our current priority focus areas.
Now we want to expand on that party to get new takes directly and unfiltered from the people who are living and working here every day. Not only will local leaders be at each event to help us celebrate present successes, but YPs will look to the public to help guide us in our future endeavors.
As we’ve gotten to know hundreds of people across the region, we've learned what residents and future talent care about isn't just cooler coffeehouses and music venues. Rather, it's a long-term, sustainable and practical vision for our cities.
“We know what great communities we have in the blue water area and we want to share some of the solutions we see making it stronger,” said A.J. Armbruster, president of the BWYP. “We also want to hear from those attending the event on what will make them stay in – or come back to – the blue water area.”
The YP Community Tour will aggregate and share our community’s ideas for our cities. We will share what we’ve learned over the past few years, celebrate successes, but most importantly we’ll look at each of the photos we collect on this celebratory evening as mini-stories. And we want your voice to play a role in shaping the larger stories of our cities.
Please join us. Tell your story; share your idea in your words. Why have you stayed? What would your ideal city have? What will make you stay?