Check out Norwich planning document to see how we define our future
As Andy famously said to Red in "The Shawshank Redemption," "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things," but as experience here on the Big Blue Marble has taught me, hope is not a plan.
And, spoiler alert, let's not forget Andy did have a plan he used to escape from Shawshank State prison rather than just hope he could. When you get down to it, there’s nothing quite like a plan when you're trying to get things done.
Norwich’s been busier this summer, in my opinion, in terms of economic development initiatives and activities than in recent memory, and as pleased as that makes me (I chose to live in Norwich, as I remind some lifelong residents and constant carpers), when I read newspaper accounts about repurposing the YMCA and investing in the Uncas Leap Heritage Park, I still keep bumping into what I call "discouraged experts" who have in their years of living here watched a lot of projects start with enthusiastic fanfare and then slowly fade and quietly die.
You’ll find wary reactions to every news story posted on social media, often in the form of "on the other hand" or "what about" critiques, sometimes on entirely different and unrelated topics from the original news reports. There's a place for constructive, informed criticism as opposed to yet another variation of putting the "No" in Norwich, which we do so well because we've done it for so long.
The state of Connecticut requires every municipality to have a 10-year Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), a roadmap, if you will, of what the city’s professional planners and economic development experts in concert with our local elected officials and residents, exactly like us, seek to accomplish to expand the Grand List and enhance the quality of life across our city.
The POCD is a not a one-and-done deal; it’s a living document that’s updated every decade to reflect changes in conditions, progress made, and new goals to be addressed. There are a lot of moving parts. Norwich just accomplished its most recent update and everyone who lives and/or works here and has, or should have, skin in the game and ideas about what should/could be better, whole, or brand new, should read it.
I love reading every update of the POCD because it's the story of who we are as a community and how we all came to be here, now, as well as the way ahead. So many people in the same device, and we are the ones who determine how this chapter continues.
A lot of time and talent was invested in defining and updating the POCD, which is on the Planning and Neighborhood Services page on the city's website, online at https://www.norwichct.org/DocumentCenter/View/9125/DRAFT-Envision-06360---City-of-Norwich-POCD-7-11-2023. So consider this your invitation to review what's been developed as a reflection of all our ideas more fully. This is the perfect time to get involved and the POCD is your ticket to ride.
Too many of us complain about things but never have any suggestions on how to improve them. The POCD is not a gaggle of folks casually sitting around shooting the breeze but, rather, is an aspirational statement of intent and purpose with goals, methods to achieve those goals, and measurement tools to gauge how successfully we are progressing towards achieving them.
This is how we define our future. Victims or victors, you decide.
Bill Kenny, of Norwich, writes a weekly column about Norwich issues. His blog, Tilting at Windmills, can be accessed at https://tiltingatwindmills-dweeb.blogspot.com/.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Norwich Plan of Conservation and Development is roadmap to the future
