Link to Event Invitation

“What Feeds the Soul of a Community?”

What makes a community a desirable place to live ?

What draws people to stake their future in it ?

What makes communities with more attached residents healthier ?

As a part of your participation on the Downtown 2025 Project, you are invited to a special event at the Walker Center’s Cinema / Auditorium, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, on Monday, April 18th, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

The featured speaker will be Dennis Scholl, Vice President/Arts of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Scholl has been instrumental in the development of the “Soul of the Community” project (www.soulofthecommunity.org), a study initiated by the Knight Foundation in 2008. After interviewing approximately 43,000 people in 26 communities around the U.S., the study has found that three main qualities attach people to a place: social offerings (entertainment venues and places to meet), openness (how welcoming a place is), and the area’s aesthetics (its physical beauty and green spaces).

After Scholl’s presentation, there will be a panel discussion followed by a question and answer period.

Please confirm your attendance by sending a response via email to [email protected]. For more information about Dennis Scholl and the Knight Foundation see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/arts/design/06random.html

I encourage you to join in this dynamic and informative meeting.

John D. Griffith, Chair Downtown 2025 Plan