Chris Whitfield/Daily Citizen-NewsThose attending Monday night's forum on downtown Dalton gathered around tables to answer questions presented to them by representatives of the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

DALTON, Ga. — What are three things you do not like about downtown Dalton? What are three things you do like about downtown Dalton? What are three words you would use to summarize your vision for downtown Dalton in 10 years?

Those are just some of the questions being asked as part of the development of a strategic vision and plan for the future of downtown.

Gathering community input is the initial phase of developing that plan. More than 150 people attended a community forum Monday night to answer those questions and others. The event was hosted by Believe Greater Dalton and the Downtown Dalton Development Authority along with the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership at Stage 123 in downtown. Believe Greater Dalton is a public-private partnership of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce and local governments aimed at implementing a five-year strategic plan for Dalton and Whitfield County.

Forum video

“The first step is public input and where we are now,” said Danny Bivins with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, who led the meeting. “We focus mostly on what people are looking for and their vision. From there we create where we are going — step two — with lots of visualizations and research and what is feasible. Then step three of the process is trying to figure out who is going to do what when. We are in the initial step one, so we are looking at nine full months from this point.”

Allyson Coker, the project manager for Believe Greater Dalton, said they have just begun pushing the DaltonRSVP.com website where people can take a survey that will be used to help shape the plans for Dalton. Other community focus groups and interviews have been conducted by representatives from the Vinson Institute, but Coker said more input is still needed.

“Everyone has been so engaged and excited with the project,” Coker said. “This really is just the beginning of the process and we want as many people in as many parts of the community involved and invested in the future of downtown Dalton.”

State Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, is invested in downtown as the owner of two businesses, The Oakwood Cafe and Cherokee Brewing and Pizza Company. He said having others as part of the process is the biggest thing the project needs.

“More than anything, it is the community involvement (that has me excited),” Carpenter said. “It’s a Monday night and it is raining outside and there is 125, 150 people in there all expressing what they would like to see their downtown become. Most everybody is in agreement. There are some outliers, but for the most part everybody is still trucking to the same destination. I think that is exciting.”

Jodi Wrenn graduated from Dalton High School but left for college and didn’t think she would be headed back. Recently, she and her husband Greg — young, professional millennials craved by the area’s elected officials and business leaders for the city — moved to Dalton from Nashville. She said she went to Monday’s meeting because she and Greg want to be invested in the community.

“I was one of those kids that couldn’t wait to get out of Dalton,” Jodi Wrenn said. “I think that was just a result of some of the negativity. We loved Nashville, but we would come back here when we kind of wanted to slow down a little bit. We want to plant our roots and start our family here, so we decided to plug into the community and see where we can make it better.”

The Wrenns echoed many in the crowd who spoke of Dalton being a “vibrant destination.”

“Typically, when someone asks where are you going tonight or what are you doing this weekend, the expected answer is where in Chattanooga are you going or where in Atlanta are you going,” Greg Wrenn said. “We want Dalton to be a destination. We were talking at our table and we really want to embrace the diversity. We feel like this town needs an identity and we want everyone to be part of bringing that together.”

The big question is what is Dalton’s identity? Carpet? Diversity? History? Bivins said that is the biggest question to be answered.

“That is what we are asking, too,” Bivins said. “I can guarantee you it is going to be Dalton and whatever is determined or direction we are going comes from the people of Dalton. At the end, you are still what the community says you are.”