Only two dozen folks gathered in the West Avenue Elementary School library Thursday night to discuss North Waco’s potential for growth and revitalization, but even in those paltry numbers there was a silver lining.

Many of the folks that evening — all colors, all incomes, all neighborhoods — might never have drawn together to discuss shared concerns and hopes had Mission Waco and other groups not engineered a public forum to begin forging a master plan for the area.

And make no mistake: Revitalization of North Waco is essential if the much-touted master plan for downtown Waco and the Elm Street corridor is to have any hope of success in coming years.

That sense of community so unique to North Waco was evident throughout the evening just in the way folks talked and debated one another — respectfully. At one point, Demetrius Waples, a strapping, 53-year-old detention supervisor at the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center who has lived in North Waco five years, even reminded all who envision great things for North Waco to remember those of limited means who have made homes there for many years.

“You have to poll the entire community about this,” he stressed. “What about the lady whose house has been on the corner for 40 years who doesn’t know what’s even going on here?”

Yes, urban planners and city leaders behind the downtown master plan dubbed “Imagine Waco” hope to have 60,000 additional people living in the 7.5-square-mile area around downtown by 2050. But they also know downtown can’t be an island, as Tribune-Herald colleague (and committed North Waco resident) J.B. Smith notes. Neighborhoods in a healthy, vibrant North Waco will be crucial in feeding residents and business into the nearby downtown area to bolster merchants and commercial interests investing there.

Strengths and weaknesses cited by residents that evening didn’t surprise me — the striking architecture and appeal of the older homes, the strength of the churches, the influence of Mission Waco, even businesses as unique as D’s Mediterranean Grill and North Waco Tropical Fish versus everything from prostitution, gunfire and mean dogs to the huge and troubling disparity in income and habitation.

One was reminded of that disparity when urban planning consultant Michael Bennett broke participants into four groups, each to brainstorm strengths and weaknesses. All groups noted that aforementioned sense of community. But one group also cited a sense of hopelessness; another cited a sense of hope.

Think disparity in incomes and dwellings isn’t showing up in those conflicting comments?

Yet things were upbeat that evening, even when one woman gloomily noted, over what seemed like several long, rambling minutes, how she and her mom live in a home without central air and heat, and that consequently they can hear prostitution deals going down outside.

“Maybe part of our (master) plan,” Bennett finally observed, “is to get you central air and heat.”

Everyone laughed.

Most offbeat suggestion of the night: Former Mayor and North Waco resident LaNelle McNamara, who defied the bulldozers that eventually razed the old Sanger Avenue School, suggested construction of a neighborhood amphitheater, something she said late Waco philanthropist and novelist Madison Cooper championed.

A few suggestions of my own: My understanding is that 15th and Colcord is the heart of this as-yet unformed plan. But how much of sprawling North Waco should this master plan cover? It’s a question that must be answered in detail before public input can proceed further.

Beyond that, those behind this process must do a far better job of drawing residents out to participate.

Trying to reach people in an area as diverse, even removed, as North Waco may be difficult, but the strong sense of community that drives folks here may make the effort well worth it.