Remembering the Big Picture
by Perry Norton
As a planning board member, it's all too easy to lose sight of the "big picture."
Read excerpts from article:
What society wants from its planners is
something more than the processing of permits. It would like the
processing of some vision, as well. Not an easy row to hoe. But
enormously fruitful if faithfully tended.
The question is often posed, however: how do we deal with the
Big Picture when there are so many little pictures we're lucky
to get home in time for the 11 p.m. news? One thing is certain:
the board has to make it happen.
You're not likely to get a signed petition requesting that the
planning board spend an evening brainstorming the future of Our
Town. But, in fact, an agenda-free evening of free wheeling
could have far reaching effects. Meet somewhere off campus, as
it were. And start asking yourselves: Where is Our Town going?
Is this where we want it to go? If it is, how can we help it get
there? If it isn't, what can we do by way of a course
correction? Our Town won't change into Utopia overnight, but at
least the board will have some new benchmarks against which to
consider the petitions and applications it receives.
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