How well do you know your neighbourhood? Would you like assistance with any aspects of neighbourhood planning?
The 'neighbourhood' is one of the key building blocks, or foundation pieces of our community.  One idea I recently heard being discussed focused on how we could encourage neighbourhoods -  both Commercial and Residential to come forward with their concerns, their ideas and their collective suggestions, in regards to their respective areas.
A commercial example of this type of thinking in our town could be a Merchant Association (also known as a B.I.A.  - Business Improvement Area) which we are encouraging, and hoping to see more established in the City.  Merchant Associations work with their members, property owners, the Chamber of Commerce, and of course the City to make local cosmetic, artistic or structural improvements, change local traffic patterns, mount advertising campaigns, introduce tax incentives, just to name a few potential options. The Uptown Merchants of Port Alberni is a living and breathing example of this type of initiative.
A residential example could be where a group of citizens gets together to discuss creating or enhancing a local playground, forming a 'Block Watch' group to deter criminal activity, getting better sidewalks, additional or improved street lighting, improved transit service and many other items (street parking, setback variations, zoning changes etc.).  Once a neighbourhood group is together the list of advantages can be endless, but some of the immediate benefits are getting to know your neighbours better, forming emergency response groups, listing all of the different skills and assets your neighbourhood has in terms of sustaining itself in disasters ie. who has a generator, who is a physician or skilled in First Aid, who has a tent shelter, who has rain barrels for water.  Another benefit, of course, can be the neighbourhood barbeques!
Let us know at your City Hall, how we can help you build up your neighbourhood - be it commercial or residential, and as a result, make our City an even better place than it already is!
Thank you,
John