March 17, 2005

EDITORIAL

Discourse improves village

Yellow Springs is a busy place these days, especially for villagers interested in politics and civic engagement. These activities and discussions involve not just elected officials but regular villagers who care about their community enough to get involved in planning efforts, attend meetings and become informed about the challenges facing Yellow Springs.

Two events planned for the end of March and early April offer Yellow Springers important opportunities to make a difference in their community.

The first is being called the Yellow Springs Community Forum, “Where Do We Go From Here?,” on Saturday, March 26, at Wright State. The forum is a follow up of last year’s gathering, which at the time was described as a strategic planning forum. The context of the forum was framed by the 2002 “Yellow Springs Cost of Living Report,” which showed that Yellow Springs’ population is shrinking and growing older and less diverse.

The Yellow Springs Men’s Group organized both forums. While last year’s event was by-invite-only, this month’s forum has been opened to the public (though the registration deadline has passed) and has additional co-sponsors, the Chamber of Commerce and Community Resources. The Men’s Group deserves credit for opening up the forum, which allows more than just handpicked villagers to participate and should give the session and the strategic plans participants will establish even more influence in the community.

The second event is the “Smart Growth Weekend” on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. The free event, also being called “Smart Growth for a Small Town,” will feature speeches, panel discussions and walking tours focusing on principles that encourage smart growth, which includes creative mixed-use development, preservation of open space and development that fosters a sense of community. Villagers can attend all of the activities or just a few; the weekend schedule is designed to be flexible to accommodate people’s busy lives. The weekend, sponsored by the Tecumseh Land Trust and 17 other groups, is described as the beginning of a process that will culminate in a visioning effort for Yellow Springs.

The Community Forum and Smart Growth Weekend follow other activities aimed at influencing the community and educating villagers, including the educational forums sponsored by Village Council, Chamber of Commerce meetings about supporting downtown businesses, and a well-attended forum in January on the proposed commerce park, the Center for Business and Education.

The issues leading to the organization of these forums and discussions are related. Therefore, an essential, challenging task for those coordinating these forums and activities is to tie them together. For example, it is critical that villagers devise a strategy that supports growth while not abandoning the community’s long-held value of open-space preservation. Downtown businesses must not be forgotten as Yellow Springs focuses on business expansion with the commerce park.

The events come during a time of invigorated interest in civic discourse in Yellow Springs, a time when villagers seem to sense that change is occurring in town. The key is helping to developing plans that ensure these changes are good for the community.

—Robert Mihalek