It’s been suggested a few times in the last month that all of us blog-reading Ypsi folks get together for a beer. I haven’t organized one in a while, but, back in the day, we used to do something called Beer with Bloggers. The idea, when I first proposed it, was that local blog readers would come out, meet their favorite bloggers, and buy them beers. The bloggers would then in turn become inebriated and fight. At least that was my plan. We did it twice. Lots of people showed up. There were no fights, but, I have a painfully vivid memory of two local bloggers locking lips in a corner… Both of these events were held at Frenchie’s. There was no agenda for either one. People just ate, drank, talked and mingled. Linda French was nice enough to offer us happy hour pricing on drinks and discounted burgers… One alternative would be to simply do that again. We could book a few hours either at Frenchie’s, or at the Brewery, and we could keep it completely informal. As there wouldn’t be an agenda, there wouldn’t be a lot of work to be done other than promoting the event.

There is, of course, a different model, one in which content is presented and people work together toward some goal. We’ve done that a few times in the past too, through the YpsiVotes group. In those instances we had space donated by EMU, the drinking of alcohol was discouraged, and our focus was on initiating substantive, action-oriented group dialogue. We made presentations, had speakers, etc. These events have been well attended and successful, but they take considerably more work.

Ideally, we could pull off something that would be equal parts of both - there could be mingling over drinks, and there could also be thoughtful, solution-oriented group conversation. I’m not sure, however, that we could pull something like that off in the short-term. So, what I’m going to suggest is that we do the following… We get together for drinks and we throw around ideas. Let’s say we do it on a Thursday evening from 7:00 to 9:00. Either Frenchie’s or the Brewery would work. Hopefully one will come through with discounted beers for the occasion. We won’t have an agenda, but we’ll put big sheets of paper around the room. People who want to, can write their ideas down concerning a larger community meeting, who should be invited, and what should be covered. Several ideas have already surfaced, but I’m sure there are more.

Some of the things I’ve heard from people thus far concerning what they would like to discuss:

[More:]

• We need to discuss public services and how they will be effected in the wake of cuts. People have thoughts on snow removal, leaf pickup, road repair, holiday decorations and any number of other things that they would like to share with the administration.

• The status of our social service organizations. How are groups like SOS and the Corner Health Center managing to provide services as demand grows and funding slows? What can we as a community do to help?

• The marketing of our city. How do local realtors perceive Ypsilnati? How do they talk about our various neighborhoods? Would it be worth our while to develop consistent marketing materials on each neighborhood?

• What is the Downtown Blueprints project that we’re about to begin? What will it mean for the future of our city, and how can we participate?

• Where are we on Water Street? There’s a group working the minor league baseball angle, and there are developers considering mixed retail and housing projects. How can we as a community help move the project forward? Is there still time for us to contribute our ideas?

• Retail in Ypsilanti. What’s missing? How do we recruit and/or grow the kinds of businesses we want and need? How do we support the businesses we have? Have business owners comment on the recent Shop Ypsi for the Holidays campaign, and make plans for other initiatives that would draw people here. Perhaps discuss the perceived and structural divide between Michigan Avenue and Depot Town shopping areas.

• Race relations, the police, the condition of subsidized housing, and everything associated. It’s been one year since David Ware was shot and killed by police. It’s also been one year since Orange Taylor allegedly raped and killed EMU student Laura Dickinson, an incident which brought at least one white supremacist group into our city. What’s being done to ensure that things don’t get worse?

• Mass transportation. Is bus service going to diminish if we continue to pay less into AATA? What is the likelihood of a local rail stop if the idea of a passenger line connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit goes forward? How can we push the idea forward?

• Cost savings via regionalization. What’s on the table concerning the regionalization of police, fire, sanitation and other City services? What savings are we likely to see? What are the costs going to be in terms of response times, service levels, etc?

• The SPARK East incubator and what it actually means for downtown. What kinds of businesses are they looking for? What businesses have already signed on? What services, if any, will they provide to local entrepreneurs?

• The idea of an outdoor, human-powered film festival on the banks of the Huron River. Can it be done?

What am I missing?

And, how about that drink?