Just over 160 people attended the public information sessions held at the Waterfront Conference Center on September 11^th. Presentations were made by John Fregonese (Portland, OR) and Robert Grow (Salt Lake City, UT) every thirty minutes for three hours. Fregonese and Grow bring their combined experience to Traverse City after working together on other regional planning projects including EnVision Utah, Forward Dallas and Louisiana Speaks. They explained the process that will begin on October 17^th with the first in a series of scenario planning workshops. After each presentation, there was time for questions and answers.

One theme of the evening was that there is no pre-determined “right answer.” Fregonese and Grow were very clear that they did not know what the results of the workshops would be in advance. They also emphasized that the computer models are only tools for the project. They depend on local input to develop a plan that is unique for the needs and values of this region.