Our panelist will break the ice and start the discussion, we are very excited to announce that our panelists will be Mary Rufledt (realtor with GMAC Real Estate), Ted Barr (owner of Barr Electric and Vice-chair of the RDA), Cody Filipczak (owner of C&M properties), Ned Noel (Associate Planner, City of Eau Claire), Wallace Rogers (downtown resident), Ryan Weichelt ( Assistant Professor of Geography, UW-Eau Claire).   Continue reading for their full biographies. 

Mary Rufledt has been actively involved in selling real estate in the Chippewa Valley since 1997 and holds a real estate license in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. She has also furthered her education by earning her ABR-Accredited Buyer Representative, RRS-Recreation and Resort Specialist, GRI-Graduate Realtor Institute, CRS-Certified Residential Specialist, and SRES- Seniors Real Estate Specialist Designation. Mary’s hard work and dedication to the business has earned her many awards and recognition both regionally and nationally. Recent awards include; first place sales associate award (closed residential units) of Wisconsin in 2000, Top 100 sales associate in the state of Wisconsin. When Mary is not busy buying/selling homes, she enjoys many recreational activities. She has a great passion for spending time on the water and spending time outdoors. She enjoys running and spending time at the gym.

Ted Barr is the Owner of Barr Electric and current Vice-Chair of the Eau Claire Redevelopment Authority (RDA). Mr. Barr represented the RDA on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee during the development of Eau Claire’s 2005 Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Barr is the electrical contractor of record for the installation of the first residential, grid tied, solar electric generating systems in the city of Eau Claire (2006), and St.Croix (‘06), Clark (‘06) and Eau Claire (‘09) counties. Resident of 1023 Emery St, he is a member of the East Side Hill Neighborhood Association and even served as its President. He participated in the Hyatt-Palma downtown assessment and dealt with the relocation of Boyd School to the Lee St. Park, the re-use of Boyd School, and the redesign and upgrade of Boyd Park. Currently involved with the Citizens for Accountability in Jail Expansion (CAJE).

Mr. Filipczak is the owner of C&M Properties and Construction Inc., a home building, development and rental management company in Eau Claire. C&M builds 15 to 20 properties a year and has won the last four Parade of Homes “Best of Show” awards. Cody is very active in the government affairs committee with the Homebuilders Association, and as a relatively “young” business owner he brings a new perspective to the industry.

Ned Noel, Associate Planner, City of Eau Claire. Mr. Noel has a bachelor degree in city planning and geographic information systems from the University of Minnesota. He has held urban planner positions in the inner city and suburbs of the Twin Cities. He has worked on both MN’s Hiawatha light rail and Northstar commuter rail projects and is a communications co-chairman for the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition. Ned is Eau Claire’s city planner dealing with sustainability and serves on Clear Vision Eau Claire’s Sustainability Task Force and on the local Earth Day Committee.

Wallace Rogers came to Eau Claire in 1981 from Ohio to be the county government’s first Director of Planning and Development. He’s served four terms on the Eau Claire City Council (1985-1993), and was Council President from 1987-1991. Since 1991 he’s been a local government specialist and government organization analyst working on foreign aid projects in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, the Central Pacific, Central Asia and Southern Africa. Rogers has a BA in government and English from Valparaiso University, in Indiana and a masters degree in public administration from Kent State University in Ohio. He lives in the newly constructed Phoenix Park Neighborhood apartments.

Dr. Weichelt is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Born in Marshfield, Wisconsin he attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Geography. Upon graduation from Eau Claire, he obtained a masters degree from Texas State University and recently a PhD from the University of Nebraska. Ryan’s research has ranged from urban issues of crime for the Austin, Texas Police Department, to the examination of Hispanic’s participation in the American political system. Other research interests include urban and rural geography, quantitative methods, and political geography. He is happy to be living once again in Eau Claire.

October 28, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the upstairs of Haymarket Grill, 101 Graham Ave, Downtown

Featured panelists:

• Mary Rufledt, Realtor | Haselwander GMAC
• Ted Barr, RDA Board Member | Owner of Barr Electric
• Cody Filipczak, Home Builder | C&M Properties
• Ned Noel, Associate Planner | City of Eau Claire
• Wallace Rogers, Downtown Resident
• Ryan Weichelt, Associate Professor of Geography | UWEC

Background Information:

We have done some research on this topic and found that it has recently gained a lot of popularity in the national media. Here is a link to a Fast Company article called Suburbia R.I.P. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/michael-cannell/cannell/suburbia-rip

The New York Times also published an article, “All Boarded Up” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/magazine/08Foreclosure-t.html?_r=1

It took us a little bit longer to find articles defending the suburbs and the “American Dream”, but we did find them in the end. Here is a blog posting from Sacramento http://parkwayblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/urbansuburban-both-smart-growth.html 

And also an article by Roger Selbert http://www.newgeography.com/content/00300-the-future-suburbs-suburbs-are-future

We are, of course, very interested in your input, thoughts, ideas, and articles you have found, so please let us know.

Sponsors

Please, take a minute and visit the websites of our kind sponsors. Without them, the Idea Lounge would not be possible.

715-723-4461

715-834-2500

715-836-7368

715-577-4129

Idea Lounge Series

If you are not familiar with the Idea Lounge series, click here to find out our previous topics.

After a long time in making we are proud to release a downtown living video.

It is a way for us to share our love for downtown and the great benefits that you get from living here. You can view the list of all downtown lofts and apartments on the Live Downtown page together with a larger version of the video.