In early September, the 4-H Center near Columbia, North Carolina, on the banks of Albemarle Sound, was the setting for the Eastern North Carolina Your Town. The venue was certainly among the most attractive places we’ve ever had a workshop. The 4-H Center had light and spacious meeting space, and participants could wander outside, down to the gazebo and docks along the water. The three design problems challenged participants not only on diversified housing but also on integrating mixed use into their downtowns and building on the natural amenities of eastern N.C. communities to enhance tourism and quality of life.

FoRENC plans to provide each participating town with the outcomes of the design problem sessions in written format and will work with them to enlarge and enhance the plans produced. At least one town, Plymouth, expressed interest in bringing some of the speakers back for a mini-workshop for the towns’ elected officials and others.

-Excerpted from Your Town: Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, Update, Fall, 2007

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