Continuing the Twin Cities Daily Planet’s ongoing series of community conversations on the New Normal, the West Side Citizens Organization in West St. Paul hosted a talk on March 29. After the event, several attendees shared their opinions to the question: In a time of budget deficits and decreasing resources, how can we best promote the economic vitality and livability of our communities?
Maras Wahl
Get to know your neighbors and share resources.
Roxanne Young
I get frustrate by the feeling that I should “do more” in a time of fewer resources. It’s hard not to feel burned out! Perhaps the conversation should be framed as efficiency?
Demi Miller
1) Connecting with our neighbors and listening to them. Starting with barter—discovering skills that we can share. What do I/we need? 2) Who in my immediate community could be a resource to me? 3) Creating a vision and a track record of mutual self-help…that will reinforce the investment in our social capital with one another.
Jim Ivey
Make it possible for people in the neighborhood to have a living wage job near home. The ability to spend time with family and neighborhoods instead of commuting is the simplest way to have an immediate impact on livability.
Dave Thune
The New Normal isn’t necessarily about doing more with less. We have more, we just aren’t using it.
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