The Comprehensive Plan is Lancaster City's twenty year development plan that will shape policies and strategies that reflect our shared community objectives. The plan will be developed over the next 2 years and it's vital that we ensure the process is inclusive of all. As a key neighborhood group, we support the work we're about to undertake as a community. Here is our letter of support to the Mayor and our City:

September 17, 2020

Mayor Danene Sorace    
City of Lancaster
120 N. Duke St.
Lancaster, PA 17602

Dear Mayor Sorace:
Northeast Neighbors United, Lancaster fully supports the City of Lancaster’s application to the Partners for Places program for the first year of the Comprehensive Planning process in which partnerships are solidified, the plan’s core values and priorities are set, and draft policies are created. The new Comprehensive Plan for the City of Lancaster will set a twenty-year vision to guide Lancaster’s physical development and establish policies and strategies for accomplishing shared objectives over time. It is vital that the planning process is representative of the goals and vision of all residents of the City.

Neighbors United is the current iteration of a group that has worked to improve the neighborhood for about a century. We focus on the NE part of Lancaster City roughly east of N Duke St. and north of New Holland Ave. This year we incorporated as a 501(c)3 charity in order to deepen and widen our work supporting the community. Our vision is to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood by becoming informed citizens who take an active role in our community. This neighborhood is positioned to be enhanced through greater involvement, increased neighborhood communication and advocacy, and opportunities for commercial growth and beautification as the Downtown expands and the demand for authentic urban living is increasing. Our current project is building connections with our offline neighbors by installing 2-3 community bulletin boards and partnering with a handful of local businesses to distribute our email newsletter in analog form. We’re building SMS communication into our workflow to further reach neighbors. Communication fosters collaboration, and we want all our neighbors to have a voice.

We look forward to working with the City of Lancaster, Lancaster City Alliance, High Foundation, and other frontline community organizations to ensure that the Comprehensive Plan is equitable in both process and outcomes.

This letter of support was approved by a vote of the majority of the board during our meeting on September 17, 2020

Sincerely, 
Tim Freud, President

During our last Board meeting, a member asked why we don't have a blog or some other way of reconnecting with our community on a periodic basis. As many of you know, Carl Feldman has faithfully produced a monthly zine distributed to subscribers on a mailing list and our presence on Facebook has grown to nearly 1,000 members. While these formats are an excellent way to reach out, we could do more to engage our faithful members who are looking for a more personal, conversational style.

So we're bringing back the blog!

There's a lot we hope to share with you over the next few months. You'll hear from our Board and members of the community who share in our desire to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood by becoming informed citizens who take an active role in our community.