Sustainable community defined

There has been increasing talk, and "buzz" about building sustainable communities, and how DestinyUSA will be "working towards creating a sustainable future."

What does sustainability mean actually? Here is a good definition for those unfamiliar with the term, from the Office of Environment Assistance in Minnesota:

A sustainable community can persist over generations, enjoying a healthy environment, prosperous economy and vibrant civic life. It does not undermine its social or physical systems of support. Rather, it develops in harmony with the ecological patterns it thrives in.

Sustainable development is an ambitious process in which a community develops attitudes and ongoing actions that strengthen its natural environment, economy and social well-being. Benefits include more livable communities, lower costs and an environment safe for future generations.

A growing number of communities across America have begun this process, gathering a number of local initiatives under the umbrella of sustainability. They are bringing preventive, integrative strategies to bear on crime, health, jobs, land use and community values.

Sustainable development means development that maintains or enhances economic opportunity and community well-being while protecting and restoring the natural environment upon which people and economies depend. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

(emphasis mine)

Let's leave large scale "sustainability" to the dream that is DestinyUSA. For those living in the Fairmount/Geddes area, we need to take care of ourselves and our community first. We need to dream big, but start small. Most of all we need a vision of progress for Geddes that doesn't involve more strip malls and "big box" stores. We need local business, local jobs for our residents, and a more enviromentally secure vision of the future. It is time for people to step up, and shape their community in the image that they would like to see it.

This blog is an attempt to do just that.



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