Andrew,
We are in much the same situation in Wilmington, DE. The revitalization has made formerly undesirable properties extremely valuable. We are meeting with as many of the groups as possible to see if we can be a part of their efforts. If you and your org are handy (i would imagine so) you can offer to upkeep the property and even make general improvements to it. Make sure that people you talk to know that your group will be an asset to the community. Lastly, don't get discouraged...We've had many, many meetings and still no space. Every time we talk with someone there is more awareness about our organization and I'm sure that very soon we will find ourselves in a nice workshop space, as will you, doing good by bikes.
Peace & Good Luck,
Brian Urban Bike Project of Wilmington
On 7/20/07, Andrew Bushaw plan_9@riseup.net wrote:
Hello, I'm currently working in a collective to start a community bike shop in Fargo, ND. So far so good, we have a fiscal agent that is very well respected in the community and is very hands off. We have many interested volunteers, an agreement with our favorite LBS to get their old tools and quite possibly their used bike inventory. We have quite a bit of community support and really feel like we can make this work. However, we have had difficulty procuring space. We as a city are currently going through a period of "downtown revitalization" which is gentrifying many possible locations. Downtown is strategically located between two cities and three college campuses, so we would really like to make that our home. Does anyone have any experience partnering with other organizations? Does anyone have any good ways to talk to property owners who are holding out to develop into office or condo space? What are the incentives to rent/donate space to us? Also, we are beginning our grant writing and are wondering if anyone has an approximation as to how much we can reasonably write for, who are friendly foundations, ect. Is there any shop that is funded in some way other than through grants? Thanks, Andrew _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
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