Let's work together to revamp Comp Plan

Growth is going to happen. It's right up there with death as taxes on the inevitability scale.

The rub is how to manage the growth so it makes sense and happens in a logical manner, so it is controlled and moves the community forward, without trampling willy-nilly over everything residents hold dear. How do you preserve a community's identity, its soul so to speak, without holding on so tight you prevent the ability to evolve and grow?

NIMBY-ism doesn't work. Yet you see in community after community, residents succumbing to the temptation to loudly demand that X, Y or Z not happen in their backyard.

Their neighborhood is special and while the project is great, it should be built down the street or across town and be someone else's problem.

No controls, anything goes doesn't work. Trusting the marketplace to sort things out in a logical, fair manner is often a disaster-laden, messier-than-a-toddler's-bedroom process that never seems to work out. The end result is often lop-sided, doesn't reflect the city's heart and is only good for prompting discussions of "what should have beens" and "if onlys."

Now, more than ever, we all need to get involved — we need to be willing to demand what we want but also be truly open to compromise and willing to bend. It's great that groups want to protect all that is special about their neighborhoods. It's wonderful they are encouraging everyone they know to get involved.

As residents, we should expect the city's Comprehensive Plan to reflect our dreams and wishes. However, we must be wise enough and unselfish enough to embrace a document that also reflects the dreams and wishes of those who want things we do not.

Growth is going to happen. Let's all get involved to make sure the result is something we can all live with.

Caroline Lobsinger is managing editor of the Bee