One of the critical tenets of building community is the need to understand our past as we plan our future.
Carver County is blessed to have a Carver County Historical Society, which does wonderful work in capturing and preserving the history of the county. Their home base is located In Waconia.
There are other local city historical societies to include the Chaska Historical Society, which has been active in heritage preservation efforts since its establishment in 1980. It is located in a historical building in downtown Chaska. It recently completed the documentation of its history in the second volume of Chaska’s history from 1950-2000.
LIVING IN COMMUNITY
It’s been documented that people want to live in community. Well what does that mean? From my perspective, it means they want to know their neighbor and look out for and support each other. It’s the sense of community, the togetherness that many strive for. It also represents a sense of belonging and a sense of connectedness to each other.
There certainly are a number of other attributes that help to define what community means, to include:
- A quality education system.
- A strong faith community.
- A strong business community.
- Sustained financial stability
- Availability of housing for all income levels that allows you to live in the community where you work.
- Availability of retail and commercial services within the community.
- A well planned and led city organization.
- Availability of quality medical services.
- A value for people and respect for the dignity of every person.
- Safety and security.
- An informed and engaged community.
These are some of the factors that help to define what builds community. There are certainly other factors, but these are some of the key ones that jump out to me as important to address.
GOVERNANCE
The role of local government plays a key role in the building of community. Local government provides a vision for the future, or that should be a key expectation of local elected leadership. It is one of the key drivers that shares with the community a future view of what their community will look like 10 to 20 years into the future.
There exists among some a distrust of government and the role it plays in affecting everyday life. I believe it plays an important role in ensuring that some core values guide the future development of the community. If local governance is planful and forward thinking, respectful and people-focused, it can make a huge impact on the building of a healthy community for every person that calls that place home.
It requires that priority is placed on this plan-driven approach. It requires leadership to be guided by such thinking and the actions and behaviors that support its goals and results. We may have some differing views on the roles and actions that best build community, but what is so important is to be guided by a process that effectively guides the future build of your town and then communicates what that is to your residents, because their shared view and support of that process provides that best chance for future success.
EDUCATION
One of the cornerstones to building community (and possibly the core cornerstone) is the provision of a quality education provided by quality educators with a commitment to serve our communities and develop our children, who represent the future of our communities. We are fortunate to have that in place within District 112. The challenge is to sustain that level of education and that requires a willingness to continue to invest in a community’s educational system.
The impact of a school system lies in the decision of families to call a town their home or for businesses to invest in that community. Those decisions affect all of us by providing a strong tax base, stable development, and a strong sense of community pride, all keys to a healthy future for any community.
