Issues Forums

Citizens focus on the issues

Great Expectations has held several forums based on issues that attendees of the neighborhood forums identified as important to the city's future.

The Big Canvas:
Nearly everyone who's attended a Great Expectations forum agreed on one point: One of the best things about living in the Philadelphia region is the wealth of things to do. The Big Canvas events, held in the summer and fall of 2008, aimed to create a regional cultural strategy that citizens will support because they helped craft it.

A City That Works:
Philadelphia City Hall and good customer service? In the same sentence? That is the goal of the Nutter adminstration. At each of the 10 neighborhood forums held in the spring of 2008, small-group discussions focused on how customer service relates to five topics: education, ethics, healthy and sustainable communities, jobs and economic development, and public safety.

Education:
Great Expectations held a public forum April 5, 2007, on the state of the city schools. Participants listened to a panel discussion, took part in small-group talks, and questioned members of the School Reform Commission. 

Poverty:
On April 10, 2007, people interested in the issue of poverty gathered at the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. Participants heard from a speaker on New York City's anti-poverty efforts, participated in a panel discussion on how those efforts might translate to Philadelphia, and in small groups discussed what should be on the next mayor's agenda on this issue. Read the live blog from the event to get the details.

Civic Leadership:
Nearly 75 leaders of civic associations and neighborhood groups met Oct. 13, 2007, in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia to talk about how they could better work together and to start building a network they could use to support one another. Get the details on our civic leaders page.