![\"A](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Screen-shot-2013-03-01-at-12.03.55-PM-300x300.png\" "\\"Screen")
<\/p>\nNP Main Street launches next phase of sustainability initiative<\/p>\n
Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/p>\n
North Park Main Street hosted a launch party and information session Feb. 20 regarding their multi-year Sustainable North Park initiative, outlining plans and asking for feedback on the project that will help change the face \u2013 and the footprint \u2013 of one of Uptown\u2019s most vibrant neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Held at Casa de Luz at 2920 University Ave., over 100 local business owners and community stakeholders listened to presentations and discussed environmental changes in North Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing with this initiative is immensely important,\u201d said Angela Landsberg, North Park Main Street executive director. \u201cI see this as an opportunity to create something that\u2019s going to supply resources, as well as information, that will empower businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Branded North Park EcoDistrict, the goal of the community-based initiative is to \u201cfoster a sustainable green economy\u201d that is grounded in keeping the historical and cultural integrity of the area. Many of the North Park plans were modeled after a similar EcoDistrict in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Funding for the initiative comes in part from a second \u201cHistoric Communities are Green Communities\u201d grant, administered by the California State Parks Office of Historic Preservation. The $22,500 grant is to continue the work North Park Main Street has already overseen, and includes educating the public about their preservation and sustainability goals, establishing carbon and water footprint baselines, and inventorying greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
The baseline energy usage tool will be launched soon, Landsberg said, where business owners can calculate how many kilowatts they are using and then go to North Park Main Street for guidance on how to decrease usage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we have a baseline for either our greenhouse gas output [or] energy usage, that will allow us to then target certain areas,\u201d Landsberg said. \u201cIf we\u2019re high in certain areas and want to work on those, then we\u2019ll know where to go. We first have to have that baseline.\u201d<\/p>\n
While acknowledging terms and implementation can get both technical and difficult for some to comprehend, Landsberg said her main goal was to make the process \u2013 which is already happening \u2013 as user friendly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make people aware of the fact that they\u2019re already participating in a lot of the things that will constitute an EcoDistrict,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The recently complete bike corral at 30th Street and North Park Way, as well as the upcoming \u201cparklet\u201d planned in front of Caff\u00e9 Calabria at 3933 30th St. are two projects that fall into their overall sustainability goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that promotes a pedestrian-friendly environment is going to be a part of it,\u201d she said. The parklet will be installed in late spring or early summer.<\/p>\n
The project originated in 2009 when California Historic Preservation Officer Wayne Donaldson challenged the business district to implement the state\u2019s first Sustainable Main Street program. The response, Landsberg said, was overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the great things about this community is so many people have been on board with creating a green business district for quite a while,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s an awareness there. The people who live and work in this community have a certain consciousness that I think makes an EcoDistrict a perfect thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Diego Green Building Council, another stakeholder in the initiative, helped organize the Feb. 20 outreach event. Doug Kot, executive director, said North Park was a leader in change.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the great things about North Park Main Street and the work that\u2019s been done over the years is they have a really deep understanding of where they started from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kot outlined the basic characteristics his organization sees as important for neighborhoods, one that looks at where a community is, where it would like to be, and how to measure the successes or failures in achieving those goals.<\/p>\n
Saying we have \u201cfar more choice\u201d in how neighborhoods are shaped, Kot explained he wanted to help communities not only discover those choices, but help implement them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the instance of North Park Main Street, they are already out of the gate. They\u2019ve done a lot of this work on their own, so we\u2019re here to celebrate that story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Office of Historical Preservation and Green Building Council, the North Park EcoDistrict is funded by San Diego Gas & Electric, and Landsberg said she is already hearing from other organizations interested in supporting the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that through this process we will gain attention from other funding sources that will allow us to expand on what we\u2019re currently doing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To help with continual efforts in getting the word out, Landsberg said the North Park EcoDistrict would be scheduling future meetings where people could brainstorm, a process she said was where a lot of innovative ideas are first explored.<\/p>\n
The meet-ups will be promoted on the new North Park EcoDistrict website \u2013 northparkecodistrict.com \u2013 as well as the organization\u2019s Facebook page. For more information call 619-403-9208.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NP Main Street launches next phase of sustainability initiative By Anthony King | SDUN Editor North Park Main Street hosted a launch party and information session Feb. 20 regarding their multi-year Sustainable North Park initiative, outlining plans and asking for feedback on the project that will help change the face \u2013 and the footprint \u2013 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A North Park EcoDistrict","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}