Prepare now for the future

A look back over the 20th century reveals how grand community visions were achieved by local people rallying their support together around future planning. Wherever we find landmark community undertakings, we find involved citizens who were centered on a vision to make their community a more comfortable, sustainable one for generations to enjoy.

Grand public endeavors from Central Park in New York City, to The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, to the World's Fair in Chicago were all made possible by people focused on a central idea about what their community might achieve. Here in Coeur d'Alene we have been witness to our own community undertakings from the preservation of Tubbs Hill, to public fundraising for The Kroc Center, to the construction of a new public library. All these recent Cd'A public undertakings are testimonies to what makes the Coeur d'Alene community not just one of residents, but one of involved citizens ... folks who are highly motivated to make Cd'A not only a place to reside and survive, but rather a place to abide and thrive.

If you look around Coeur d'Alene, you cannot overlook that everything that makes this such a beautiful and accommodating place to live did not simply happen by some accident or fortuitous placement on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Indeed, thoughtful planning is the foundation of our Lake City's design.

A brief stroll downtown, for example, treats the visitor with especially attractive main street shops, integrated walking areas, and spacious vistas of Lake Coeur d'Alene. New developments have also jump started activity in the mid-town area with new chic shopping and sidewalk art. Combining the Riverstone Development with the Higher Education Corridor by way of an ever expanding Centennial Trail system is another identifiable example of connecting disparate points of our community into an integrated whole. From city parks to art installations, our community has been further strengthened with growing public transportation and rails-to-trails options for bicycles. None of these community undertakings would have been achieved without a plan and vision from the involved citizens of Coeur d'Alene.

Now, there is no time like the present to prepare for the future. With an ambition to keep Coeur d'Alene moving with the times and preparing for the future, CDA 2030 was established to initiate community conversation about this future. This community-led project, made up of leadership from higher education, city, and business leadership, is the signature process for bringing folks together to talk about what this community will look like 17 years from now. CDA 2030 is not so much focused on how we get to 2030, but rather what we would like when we get there. As project participants, we don't want to be singing to our children and grandchildren that we "paved paradise and put up a parking lot," but rather "look how far we have come."

Having lived as a life-long resident of Coeur d'Alene and witnessed the transformations of this logging, mining community into a tourism-based economy, I am keenly aware that Coeur d'Alene has profoundly changed. Forty years ago, when I was a young lad, Coeur d'Alene was principally defined by four main roads: Appleway, Sherman, 15th Street, and Northwest Boulevard with few stoplights and intersections in between. Today's Coeur d'Alene continues to grow at an impressive rate in population, infrastructure, education and business development.

In my profession, higher education, for example, we have been witness to significant improvement in higher education access in our community. Where opportunities only existed for students to earn an Associate's Degree in Cd'A, students can now go from Kindergarten to Ph.D. right here along the shores of beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene. A positive example of how the community, supported by the higher education corridor, created more educational opportunities in the Lake City.

While we cannot necessarily curtail Cd'A population and/or the extent of new industries that might relocate to North Idaho, we can certainly manage the shape and design of our beautiful community to ensure that it functions as well as it is designed. "To pave over our beautiful North Idaho paradise" is what most Coeur d'Aleners desire least about a growing North Idaho. Yes, we can ensure that growth is sustainable with emphasis on preserving our natural features. We are able to guarantee that our students have excellent schools with plenty of higher education opportunities. We can ensure that opportunities exist for public access to art, culture and diversity. We can create urban infrastructure that is connected with public transportation. We can make certain that plenty of green spaces are available as we further urbanize. Yet, however, we develop as a community - it is essentially your participation that will create the shape and dimensions of our community vision.

Over the next eight months, CDA 2030 is reaching out to you, as citizens of Coeur d'Alene, to ask "What do you like best about Cd'A?" "What are we missing as a community?" and "Where are we going in the future?" A community project, such as CDA 2030, depends on no greater input than your voice and participation. Beginning in October, with our community exploration week, a number of workshops and sessions were being held throughout the community to begin this conversation with you. This month, CDA 2030 will cast a wider net to enlist participation in a 2030 vision summit.

For anyone who enjoys living in Cd'A, who is concerned about the shape of Cd'A, and who wishes to see a sustainable future for their children and grandchildren in Cd'A, this is your opportunity to share your vision and better understand other's vision for our beautiful community. The Latin root of community is "com," meaning "with" or "together." Be with us in defining our community, join the conversation at the CDA 2030 Vision Summit, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the NIC Student Union Building. Let's together realize our grand vision for what this community might be and achieve.

Rocky Owens is director of Lewis-Clark State College, Coeur d'Alene.