show menu

Healdsburg by The Voices of Healdsburg - April 2018

Will Healdsburg’s current trajectory result in a science fiction fantasy (Startrek), a science based reality (severe drought) or some nostalgic wishfulness? Is it possible to prepare for the unknown while making a positive difference across the vagaries of time and temperament?

In 1982 Healdsburg invested in a specific future lead by an American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) R/UDAT, a Design Assistance Team community wide grant focused on the Rural/Urban interface. The AIA’s resulting plan proposed Healdsburg invest in tourism and our agricultural past. Last December a cohort of Healdsburg residents applied for and were accepted into the AIA’s sister program, “Sustainable Design Assessment Team”(SDAT). This 2018 community wide exercise could address varied concerns like, the wildland interface fire risk, lack of economic equity, sufficiency and health of the Russian River watershed, and the greenhouse gas burden imposed by tourists’ fossil fuel travel. Dialogue with the AIA is now clarifying that focus for the team of experts visiting Healdsburg later this year. Will you join that dialogue?

Influencing our future; addressing serious residents’ concerns. By focusing on vital community issues like housing, water, transportation, and economic diversity can SDAT capture today’s concerns and offer strategies to shape and influence our city’s destiny? Imagine the SDAT working like a trim tab. Trim tabs facilitate control by exerting a little force–resistance–in the opposite direction of the controlling force, thereby reducing the effort to steer the ship or plane in one direction and making turning in the other direction easier. Many SDATs have proven a little resistance is beneficial in steering cities too.

The true Healdsburg heart shines through family events. Take the Future Farmers Parade: hundreds of people stand along the parade route watching the other half of the population march. Parked pickups provide viewing platforms; folding chairs create reserved seating sections where cars are usually parked; and clans of relatives and friends gather on lawns for barbecue and parade watching. All are gathered to see dozens of parade entries celebrating our agricultural heritage, our children, our clubs and the City’s rich diversity! It feels wonderful to live where kids and traditions have such broad support. Can we sustain that vitality in the future, with self driving cars, drought, no affordable places to live, wine grapes turning to raisins, and a narrow mix of economic activity? Can we keep it real, not a theme park?

To thrive and respond to citizen’s needs, first know one another.Todos deben sentir que pertenecen. (Everyone needs to feel they belong.)

We must guarantee children can and will live here, that we have neighbors to talk to—not dark homes, that our agricultural roots will sustain us through drought, that we preserve a quality of life that continues to attract strangers bringing new energy and ideas to the city. And that our elders remain, contributing their knowledge, memories and wisdom.

Sustainability is the foundation for recognizing the steps to resiliency, preserving what we love, remain- ing flexible in a rapidly changing, unpredictable environment. The SDAT provides this opportunity to draw upon the wisdom of experts in urban design, economics, land use, housing strategies, and plan- ning models. We owe it to parents, children, neighbors, employees; to our rivers, valleys, ridges and canyons to again take stock and project a future which captures our highest values.

But first let’s declare what gives us joy, what satisfies our need for quiet and comfort, what we want our town and region to be like, so it isn’t decided for us. Or imagine urban boundaries being assaulted, penetrated, extended and abandoned; jobs fleeing or evaporating; insects coming and feasting; water taken, polluted, reduced and diverted; fish not coming home.

How is the sense of wholeness eroded? By incremental decisions made without us and without first asking about the big picture. Decisions that serve endless disconnected individual interests, driven by enterprise, growth, development and survival fears don’t nourish and represent the whole of our small agricultural community.

SDAT’s promise—our responsibility SDAT presents an opportunity to generate new ideas around our joys and most passionate concerns; and to influence policy, and the multiple decisions made by government and individuals. As SDAT takes Healdsburg to a thoughtful future, show up, find compromise in goodwill and affection, see ourselves in each other without being impaled by our differences. Contribute your voice! Healdsburg-SDAT.org

We've moved our commenting system to Disqus, a widely used community engagement tool that you may already be using on other websites. If you're a registered Disqus user, your account will work on the Gazette as well. If you'd like to sign up to comment, visit https://disqus.com/profile/signup/.
Show Comment