Columbia Tomorrow

Yesterday I attended a press conference in Symphony Woods announcing the formation of new citizen advocacy group for Columbia called Columbia Tomorrow.

I hear you. That’s just what Columbia needs, another citizen’s advocacy group right?

Still, forming a citizens group to promote a particular agenda is a time honored tradition in Columbia going back to the early years of the planned community. These groups have always been part of the social fabric of Columbia.

So now we have Columbia Tomorrow which, according to its president and spokesman Jud Malone, “was established to help create a more sustainable, inclusive and attractive community that strives for excellence.”

One of the other founders is Phil Engelke. Phil is a resident of the Village of Oakland Mills and a Vice President of Environmental Design for RTKL, a global architecture and design firm with offices in Baltimore. Yesterday he commented that he “hasn’t set a foot in Symphony Woods since the Petting Zoo closed.”

That was a very long time ago.

“Columbia is not a museum,” he continued, “The third generation of Columbians is not getting what we got.”

I happen to agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. Columbia risks becoming a living museum piece of 1960’s community planning.

The press conference was attended by a little more than 50 people, which is pretty good considering that it was in the middle of a cloudy and rainy day. Most encouraging however was the make-up of the audience. Unlike like most of these types of events I have attended, this one had a fair amount of members of that third generation of Columbians that Phil spoke about.
I just hope they stay engaged in the conversation.