Paterson One Square Mile Seeks Resident Input
Advisory Committee forms to create plan
Passaic County (11/29/2023) — What is life in Paterson like? A new community initiative, Paterson One Square Mile, is seeking input from residents to help answer this question.
Residents in the 1st, 4th, and 5th Wards are invited to a Holiday Social on Friday, December 1st from 5-8pm and Saturday, December 2nd from 9am - 12pm at The Circle at Center City Mall in Paterson to give feedback in an informal and interactive way.
Montclair State University, who convened an Advisory Committee to guide Paterson One Square Mile, is hosting the Holiday Social and providing food and $50 gift cards to residents from the 1st, 4th, and 5th Wards, ages 18 and over.
"This is a community initiative, and we want the community to guide everything we are doing," said Bryan Murdoch, associate vice president for community partnerships at Montclair. "People attending the Holiday Socials will be invited to help us define what Paterson One Square Mile is by telling us what they need and want in Paterson, voting on a logo for the Paterson One Square Mile, and defining the geographic area."
Other efforts to hear from the community include a resident survey and listening sessions, which are being organized by local partner organizations. Paterson residents who take part in these opportunities will also receive a gift card.
Paterson One Square Mile is a hyper-local, place-based, cross-sector initiative with the goal of accelerating the revitalization of a concentrated area. Utilizing strategically organized community engagement efforts focused on a bounded area within the city, this community-led collective impact initiative aims to improve equitable outcomes.
Contacts: Andrew Mees, Media Relations Director, Montclair State University (201) 317-1361, meesa@montclair.edu
Aracelis Ruiz, Paterson One Square Mile Project Manager, Community Action Nexus, Montclair State University, (973) 655-4139, ruizar@montclair.edu
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Building on a distinguished history dating back to 1908, Montclair State University has evolved from an institution that was a recognized leader in teacher education to an R2 research institution ranked as one of the 100 best public doctoral universities in the nation. The University serves 22,000 undergraduate and graduate students with more than 300 doctoral, master's and baccalaureate programs provided by 13 colleges and schools.
Situated on a beautiful 252-acre campus just 12 miles from New York City, Montclair delivers the instructional and research resources of a large public university while retaining the supportive and personalized academic environment that provides a feeling of community more typical of smaller institutions.