A city Richmond's size is great for biking around, but if cyclists have to worry about their bikes being stolen or damaged when they get to their destination, they may be less likely to take advantage of the opportunity. Bike racks really are a critical pieces of infrastructure for any urban area that wishes to attract visitors for shopping and browsing, and Richmond has gone without them for far too long. In difficult economic times, it's a relatively low-cost and easy solution that makes our public spaces and key destinations even more attractive and accessible.
Read more »Welcome to RichmondBrainstorm.com!
This site is for collecting ideas about how we can make Richmond, Indiana a better place to live, work and play. Users like you submit ideas that everyone else can read, discuss and vote on. A random selection of ideas is below, and you can use the menu at the top to see other ideas on the site. Enjoy!
Install bike racks in key destination areas
Set up a Local Exchange Trading System
Growing up in my hometown, Madison, WI, I participated in a local currency system, called Madison Hours. To sign-up, you submitted your "offers" (what services, skills, or items you had) and your "requests" (what services, skills, or items you needed) to Madison HOURS, and in return they started you off with three "Hours" (the name of the currency), which was worth roughly one hour of work.
Read more »Create a Freegeek Richmond location
The Richmond Church of the Brethren is currently running a small hardware recycling cooperative, where they take in computer hardware that people are ready to get rid of, and either dispose of it properly and in the most environmentally friendly way possible, OR they breathe new life into it by reconfiguring it, using different software on it, etc. As coordinator Mark Stosberg notes, it's resulted in some great successes, with bei
Read more »Legalize Certified Professional Midwives in the State of Indiana
Midwifery care would lower state health care costs. Certified Professional Midwives provide safe care at a fraction of the cost of hospital-based care. At a time of skyrocketing health care costs, Indiana should embrace midwives as a way to cut costs without cutting corners
Read more »Fruit for Everyone Fundraising Event: Edible Cityscapes
Create walking/biking history tours of Richmond
Many cities offer a regularly scheduled walking tour of their historic landmarks and other curious locations. Richmond has many interesting destinations and historic structures located within a few miles of each other in and around the center city. We could easily create a tour that showcases the past and present life of the town while also offering something unique for tourists (and residents) to do.
Read more »Create a Car Sharing Program
Car sharing is a revolution in personal transportation - urban mobility for the 21st century. About 75% of North Americans live in cities. Many of them simply don't drive enough to justify the expense and hassles of owning a car - yet can't give up the freedom of driving a car when they want to.
Car Sharing provides flexible wheels for an urban lifestyle. It's instant-access to a network of cars throughout the city, 24 hours-a-day, paying-per-trip, without commitment or inconvenience.
Read more »"Hire a Local Artist" Month
I belong to an art group called the Wayne County Artists Guild. We were thinking that a certain month (we were thinking March) be proclaimed as "Hire your local artists" month, and encourage businesses to use artwork from local artists on their billboards and other advertising media.
Read more »Create a guide to edible plant life in the area
For some, foraging for edible plants is an exercise in wilderness survival. For others, its an interesting way to get to know the makeup of our wonderful outdoor resources, get kids excited about being outside, and have a great excuse to tour local parks, woods, and waterways. A guide to edible plant life in the area could be a great tool for education, tourism, and food buffs.
Read more »Designated Bike Paths
Richmond is a small enough community that it is feasible to use a bike for cross-town transportation.
The problem I find, when trying to bike commute, is that it is often a bit dangerous, since I either have to ride on sidewalks or on busy streets / thoroughfares. I often have to take back-roads and go through parking lots and alleyways to get where I need to go.
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