NORTHBRIDGE The UrbanRiver Visions 2 site for the Town of Northbridge is Rockdale Mill Village, located along the Blackstone River. Opportunities include enhancing recreational use of the river, promoting riverfront redevelopment, and addressing flooding and environmental issues along the river’s edge. The Northbridge charrette was held on Thursday, May 31 at the Rockdale Youth Center. Over 50 people came together to discuss the future of Rockdale Village, and the portion of the Blackstone River running through the community.     The event began with a youth charrette. Area kids explored the Village and the river, identifying opportunities for positive change. Back at the youth center, the kids learned about local history from a National Park Service ranger and then went to work creating drawings and a map of what they would like to see happen in their community in the future. Cleaning trash from the riverbanks, creating more kid-oriented parks, enabling summer canoeing and winter ice skating on the river, and encouraging new stores to locate in the Village were among the many priorities the kids identified. The drawings and map from the youth charrette were posted at the youth center, and viewed by residents of all ages as they arrived that evening. After a tour of the site area, participants were divided into two facilitated groups to create prioritized visions for the future of Rockdale Village.  Plans focused on three important ideas: the river as a catalyst for success of the village center; river issues and uses; and regional connections. A record of the notes and drawings from the charrette can be viewed by clicking here. A unified vision and action plan integrating the work of each group will be presented in a public meeting at the Northbridge Town Hall on June 19 starting at at 6pm.  For details, please click here. The Northbridge Vision Plan is available for download here. For more information, please contact Charrette Coordinator David Grissino (617.850.6631).