ImagineBloomington allows residents to voice opinions

The new ImagineBloomington initiative kicked off Tuesday. The program includes workshops and surveys in which residents can help shape the city’s future.

From this feedback, Scott Robinson, transportation and long-range manager for Bloomington, said officials will devise a plan for Bloomington’s future.

“We’ll kind of craft a vision statement,” Robinson said.

He said the project is currently beginning and that officials hope to receive more comments about what people like and don’t like about the city. The entire process will take about five years to go into full effect.

“Some of the feedback that we’ve received so far is about the downtown,” Robinson said. “They think it’s a great downtown.”

Katie Bannon, zoning and long-range planner for Bloomington, said the workshops will be available for all residents to participate in and will run in various locations for about 90 minutes.

“We’re going to start by just getting people’s general ideas,” Bannon said about the workshops. “We hope there will be some commonalities.”

The workshops will take place in neighborhoods around the city and at schools.

A list of all locations is available at, bloomington.in.gov/imaginebloomington.

People unable to attend workshops can fill out surveys or participate in forum discussions online, Bannon said.

Bannon and Robinson said they hope IU students will give feedback even though many are temporary residents.

“We always wish there would be more student involvement,” Robinson said. “They’re not really plugged in. They’re about half the population of the city, and they do play a huge role.”

Bannon said the city has set up tables on campus to survey students and talk to them about the good and bad aspects of Bloomington.

She said she hopes students will participate because, even if they are visitors, they will likely return at some point to visit their old school.

“It really is important what you think,” she said. “We want to be sure what you return to is what you enjoyed most about your time here.”