Listening to Lancaster

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by John Gerdy, founder and executive director of Music for Everyone, to discuss his new book “Lights on Lancaster: How One American City Harnesses the Power of the Arts to Transform its Communities.” John discusses how pivotal investments in the arts have transformed Lancaster City, the arts’ role in education, healing, and creativity, and how we can ensure the arts remain vibrant in our community well into the future.

Learn more about John Gerdy, and find a copy of the book at https://johngerdy.com/.

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by Melissa Ressler, Executive Director at Lancaster Downtowners, to learn about Lancaster City’s Age-Friendly initiative. In December 2018, the City of Lancaster was enrolled in the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (aligned with the World Health Organization), joining more than 1,000 communities worldwide committed to improving the quality of life for older people. Age-Friendly Lancaster produced an Action Plan in December 2021 focused on housing, pedestrian safety, intergenerational connection, and access to services for older adults. Listen to this episode to get an update on some of their recent priorities and programming.

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by Cindy McCormick, Deputy Director of Engineering for the City of Lancaster. The City recently received a $12.7 million Safe Streets for All Grant to implement its Vision Zero strategy, which is the City’s goal to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Tune in to learn where crashes are happening in the city, who they are impacting, and what is being done to make our streets safer.

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by Kate Austin, Green Infrastructure Asset Coordinator for the City of Lancaster. Lancaster City created a 25-year Green Infrastructure Plan in 2011 to help reduce pollution from its combined sewer system overflows. Today the city has more than 70 green infrastructure projects that manage 50 million gallons of stormwater annually, with a goal of ultimately managing 80 million gallons. Learn more from Kate about local examples of green infrastructure, how they are helping the city meet a Consent Decree with the EPA, and what the future has in store for Lancaster City’s green infrastructure.

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by Cody Kiefer, the new Urban Forester for the City of Lancaster. Lancaster’s urban forest includes trees in public areas and on private property, including along its streets, in its parks and open spaces, in backyards, and on the grounds of commercial and institutional establishments. These trees provide many benefits, including ecosystem services that are important for the City to meet the EPA’s mandate to reduce combined sewer overflows. Cody is currently inventorying the City’s trees (there are 11,500 in public spaces alone!), developing a master plan, and working on some exciting initiatives for the future.

For this episode of Listening to Lancaster Hourglass was joined by Danielle Keperling, Executive Director of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. We spoke about all things historic preservation including the proposed Oregon Village development, the National Register of Historic Places, local zoning ordinances, and more! Listen to learn which 3 local historic structures Danielle thinks everyone in the community should know about.