Here are the top ten accomplishments of Source the Station, a crowdsourced placemaking program in Huntington Station, Long Island, New York, with a mission of revitalizing its downtown.
1. Involving over 1400 members in the revitalization efforts on the sourcethestation.com website and beyond through the community’s efforts at events, monthly meet ups and social media.
2. Receiving over 107unique community-generated ideas, securing 11 feasibility studies as a result of providing evidence of market demand, and working with over 20 entrepreneurs on exploring, defining and developing their business ideas.
3. Helping get the first step of downtown development approvals, the Huntington Station Development Strategy, through community support and a 5-0 bipartisan council vote.
4. Transforming an empty commuter parking lot into Community Fest in March 2013 featuring over 25 nonprofits, businesses and community organizations, music from Huntington High School and local food vendors, churches and games.
5. Transforming Depot Road into a bustling pop-up Downtown with a vibrant street festival in July 2013, Source the Station organized a street festival with local business owners (BID) and Town of Huntington officials, attracting over 8000 people, a record event for the community. The event featured local artists, musicians, vendors, businesses and community members.
6. Gathering monthly for meet ups at local businesses and organizations to propel community-wide improvements, idea generation, and planning for all stages of the revitalization efforts.
7. Bringing member ideas that show strong support to fruition, like The Source Pop-Up Shop which offered ten local entrepreneurs and their “tiny businesses” to sell their items in a storefront in Huntington Station and gain valuable exposure and experience to help grow their businesses.
8. Hosting Source Socials and Source Mobs at local restaurants to promote eating and entertainment in local venues while also promoting the development of community including Huntington Station History Cafe at the Huntington Station Branch of the library featuring local historian Dr. Al Sforza.
10. Promoting entrepreneurship and small business development through the Chamber of Commerce, Huntington Station BID and Huntington Business Incubator, as well as hosting events like a “Small Business Real Estate Seminar” and our “Local Business Social.”
The work that has been done by the community in the last year through Source the Station and in the past has been tremendous. Check out the recap video for 2013 (above).
