Burlington is under tremendous pressure from population growth. Residents have seen schools, shops and parks disappear, replaced by houses and apartments.
Urban sprawl and highways are carving up farms and greenspace. Our waterfront is threatening to become tower alley. Our city has more traffic – and more air pollution. Our taxes are going up.
You wonder: What can be done?
A lot – when we work together. As a columnist covering the “905″ region for the Toronto Sun, and a downtown resident with my husband and three children, I’ve written about and lived through many of these changes, too.
Like you, I’ve seen a lot of reasons for community “disengagement.”
Does this sound familiar? You learn about changes in your community after it’s too late to act. You find official information sometimes uninformative and overly complex. You feel shut out of community decision-making – public consultations are more like “dictations” where you’re simple told what’s happening.
I’ve seen that story repeated time and again. I’ve also seen, in the last year, the demise of several residents associations. We all lead busy lives, and sometimes it’s tough to fit in another meeting. But that’s only half the story: I’ve also seen a sense of disillusionment – well-founded in many cases – that community engagement doesn’t change much.
And yet, to paraphrase anthropologist Margaret Mead, a small group of committed people is the only thing that has ever changed the world.
A Better Burlington aims to be an online gathering place for committed Burlington residents – like you. Through my weekly blog, you’ll receive relevant information about what’s happening in the community, and tips on what you can do. Through our comment sections, you’ll have a chance to speak your mind, share ideas and vigorously debate issues (with a sense of decorum, of course). Through our Shop Local and Local Heros profiles, you’ll meet residents and business owners who are making our city better.
If you know someone who’d like to get this information, but isn’t “wired”, we package the best content in a monthly newsletter. You can request a copy by emailing us your address – soon you’ll be able to download it directly from the site.
So dive in: enter the conversation, tell us what’s happening in your area, give us a piece of your mind, and spread the word. By joining together, we can preserve the best of our city as we grow into the future.
We can turn community disengagement into community engagement.
