Published: October 16, 2007 10:06 am      

Editorial: Grand Vision is opportunity

So who hasn't thought (or griped) about where new development should go, what it should look like and what should be done to make our roads better?

Collectively, we've tried to have that conversation a few times already. In 1990, we had the Grand Traverse 20/20 Visioning Process. Three years ago, world-famous futurist William McDonough came to town; while hundreds showed up for his first few appearances, the effort to re-vision our future fell flat. A few years before that, the Chamber of Commerce helped create New Designs for Growth, a private-public partnership that extolled the best planning practices.

All of that is now prelude. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Park Place Hotel, the region will officially kick off the most well-funded, well-planned land use and transportation study the region has ever undertaken. Dubbed The Grand Vision, the project is designed to be a citizen-led discussion to establish community values, a vision for the future and strategies for actually getting something done the way we want it done.

Wednesday will be the first chance of many for citizens to get specific about what they want, and fear, to see in the future.

The Grand Vision is the direct result of the years of struggle over the proposed Hartman-Hammond bridge and the eventual coming together of a host of consituencies -- planners, environmentalists, builders and developers, elected officials and the public -- to trade ideas and hopes.

The need, as anyone who drives our roads or watches new subdivisions or strip malls pop up all over the place knows, is acute. A consultant with The Grand Vision estimates the region will grow 60 percent by 2030 and add a staggering 40,000 homes outside of Traverse City.

This matters. Our goregous natural surroundings, our air and our water are all at risk if we let slapdash development rule the future. Getting it right starts Wednesday.