Uptown Collaboration
The seeds for the Uptown Collaboration were planted right here in the East Hills Office in the Spring of 2002. Former East Hills Executive Director, Lara Dengerink-Vantil invited representative from Wealthy Street, East Fulton and East Hills business districts to talk about working together. After that initial meeting the word spread and momentum built. Long time community volunteer and activist Dotti Clune was invited in to continue the dialogue and bring Eastown into the effort. After a great deal of talking about the benefits of working as a group Uptown formed a marketing committee.
What began as a marketing effort between four east side business associations quickly grew, in no small part because of the Cool Cities initiative, to include the adjacent four neighborhood organizations: East Hills, Eastown, Fulton Heights and Midtown. The Uptown marketing committee with the addition of neighborhood folks grew into the Uptown Advisory Council. The focus became implementing the Cool Cities grant and supporting the efforts of all the organizations to continue the improvement of our “urban village.” This economic and community development partnership has strengthened the vitality of East Hills and Uptown as a great place to live, work, shop, play and learn.
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