Williston, SC - Charette

This past Saturday was the culmination of our class this semester. We have talked about community participation, planning, and designs and needed to put that information into practice when we went to Williston. I felt more informed about and invested in the town because we had handed out surveys and spent real time walking around, experiencing the place and meeting the people.
We arrived without any trouble, this time. (On our last visit, we got a little lost, but this time was better.) It was raining, which did not bode well for the charette. We set-up pretty quickly and were ready for citizens, but we never got a large turn-out. There were enough people for two groups of citizens, which meant about eight to ten people. We had discussed the exercises with Harry, so when he introduced them, we felt prepared. We brought poker chips, so that we had visual aids for the “rankings” that we assigned to the internal and external factors for the future of Williston. The table that Thomas, Aaron and I were mediating was great. There were three men, and they were really cooperative and enthusiastic. They were the type of group that you hope to have in a session like the Saturday charette.
They provided us and Harry with information about Williston, which he will be able to use to provide planning ideas for Williston. However, the most productive aspect could have been that the men exchanged business cards and talking to each other about the things that they can work together or agree on for the town’s future. Overall, the residents were really positive and committed to Williston.
Harry talked about having a follow-up charette, since the turn-out was a little low. The people were great, and I’d be glad to go back.