Ask 10 people to define “community” and you’ll probably get 10 different answers, or none at all. We may all agree on a broad definition–a group of people who share a commonality, for instance, location, a disease, religious or political beliefs. But try to nail the fine details and even broad definitions disintegrate.
Perhaps that’s why out of 50,000 people only 25 showed up to discuss my city’s nascent Unified Development Ordinance. (At least five were city employees.) Once developed (pardon the play on words), the ordinance will simplify the maze of rules that developers must navigate to build in the city. It will be the framework that allows citizens and entrepreneurs to develop a liveable, walkable, and bike-friendly city that embraces the many varied definitions of community. Ever visited a town with a diverse yet successful mixture of businesses, ethnicities, and economies? Thank their Unified Development Ordinance and the citizens who were willing to confront past prejudice, current reality, and future uncertainty in deciding how to define community.
Now, I understand other people actually have lives. Unless you’re a city planner, discussing parking space to square footage ratios may not pay the bills. Setbacks and city codes are not very sexy. But get this plan wrong, and lack of sex appeal will be the least of a city’s concerns.
This is neither a chastisement, nor expression of disapproval over the collective public apathy surrounding local government. Being overworked and underpaid doesn’t leave much energy to contribute ideas that may take decades to fulfill. Or at worst may not happen at all. But people have a right to decide what their community should look like. And invitations to discuss comprehensive plans and development ordinances are a good place to start the conversation. After a 12 hour shift some of the discussions may induce a sleep worthy of Rip Van Winkle. But who knows, if that happens maybe when you awake 20 years you won’t have to struggle to define community; you’ll be surrounded by one.