Real city planning isn’t complicated. Real city planning doesn’t have to involve laws or regulations. Real city planning doesn’t need a degree or important people. Real city planning is you. You, your vision, your attitude for your community.
The single greatest force in any community is the will of its people. Complacency, spirit de corps, hope, and stubbornness are all easily identifiable traits in every community. It only takes a visitor a couple of seconds to know and understand how its citizens feel.
City planning is at its best when it is a direct reflection of a positive attitude on the part of the city’s inhabitants. Similarly, a community whose citizens are careless, apathetic, cantankerous, or lazy will exhibit those characteristics to all who visit or live there. Your neighborhood can become an instrument of your vision or your lack thereof.
Your attitude is yours, but your community will live on and carry with it your sentiments of today. Plan to face your community with an attitude of respect for its future. Plan to include yourself and plan on being successful.
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Sid,
I really think you've nailed a key component of what makes successful communities – well, successful. It is easy to tell when we're in a community of people who care about its future. They don't all have to agree on what that future looks like, just that it's worth the effort, debate and involvement to provide input and work toward the future they want. Caring, involved citizens are the catalysts for forward progress in a community. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
This post speaks the truth – and an important component is simply to show up. We've all got to familiarize ourselves with town/city/county planning boards and government meetings. If you can't go to a scheduled meeting, read the minutes. Then drop a note to the committee to suggest how they might make their meetings available online for residents to watch at their convenience. Get to know the people involved, the protocols, and a sense of what they're doing at the moment – it'll help all our ideas gain traction most efficiently.
Nicely said. This is the essence of democracy/republic. Those who care, show up and vote. Those who vote have influence. Those who sit at home and don't vote, have no voice, no concern, no community. Couldn't agree more.
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