A resident and consumer here responding to the latest article on Benny’s Plaza in the Plymouth Independent. Thank you for the article. It is well written and paced with various options and concerns.
Options build community.
(Sure, Trader Joe’s would be great since travel to the current locations is quite a distance – ask anyone who travels to shop there.)
Moving forward.
Options build community. Community matters to all its residents from children to the elderly.
I would like to suggest that we in Plymouth need a central community center that includes a daycare center (with green space) for all income families including two-income families and to enable a family to afford having a two-family income for childcare. State-of- the-art childcare spaces are popping up in buildings within many other towns. An interesting fact noted during a recent tour at a local volunteer fair this past spring.
Secondly, the center can also include space for our middle [school] age youth to gather and socialize (perhaps it can morph into a social venue where teen issues are advanced) and include a smaller green space. (Yes, Plymouth already has a skate park, and it is used by local middle-agers and young adults – maybe even move it?). If that proves to garner a negative vibe, the space can surely be used as an all-purpose room for rent.
Thirdly, create a space within the space for a seasonal event such as a year-round farmers market. Check out the amazing year-round garden growth provided by the veterans space constructed on Beaver Dam Road, for example. Pinehills folks just love the winter greens being grown hydroponically. Brilliant and healthy life sustaining.
Building a community starts with our resident youth in a space that honors their development, mindfulness, and their growing needs, as well as the needs of parents today. Let’s inspire young couples into Plymouth that will engage them in community life and services. It would provide capital and jobs – as well as inspiration.
There are enough bars downtown to encourage socialization – and by the way, we can still dance without the use of alcohol or drugs. Though bars and restaurants bring folks together, there seems to be a disconnect with more life sustaining options. Yes, the bar scene downtown provides capital for Plymouth, yet it also provides unsavory behaviors.
That all said, the three options suggested above will provide capital as well as social connection – and that is a healthy basis of community building.
Make sense?
– Jean Eichberg