Six MORE Elements That Must Intersect to Create a Vibrant Community (Part Two of Two)

In the first installment of this blog, we learned that when people narrow their focus too much, they often don’t get the momentum they need to create vibrant communities. Leaders from many sectors of the community have to collaborate before sustainable growth can take off. It can’t just be the planning commission or the local government, but it must include business and education leaders who understand how to manage change and civic engagement, as well as many other segments of the community.

We already covered the first six elements that must come together to help you build a vibrant community. Read on for five more:

A Galvanized Business Community.
Being “business friendly” doesn’t just mean making it easy for people to start companies. It also means keeping them growing. A fully engaged business community is the key. Pensacola’s Studer Community Institute (SCI) promotes mentorship of new and small businesses. Currently, 155 businesses participate in “roundtables” and monthly training and development sessions. Others attend Entrecon, the city’s annual business conference.

A Clearly Defined Role for Government.
It’s important that private investors and citizens partner with government the right way. Elected officials are wonderful partners. They can keep the community clean and safe, be consistent and fair with guidelines and zoning rules, and enforce codes. However, they can’t drive growth. They probably don’t have the budget, nor are elected officials likely to be around to see long-term projects through. Private investment mustlead the way.

Civic Engagement.
Engaged and activated citizens are a powerful force for change.SCI created the Pensacola Center for Civic Engagement to teach them how government works and how to advocate for change. It also joined forces with the Pensacola News Journalto create a speaker’s series called CivicCon—short for “Civic Conversation”—featuring the nation’s leading thinkers and experts on community building. Each event attracts thousands of attendees and viewers.

A Vibrant Downtown.
This is necessary for attracting new businesses and talent and for keeping your people home. And programming—creating events that bring people downtown—is the first step to creating a vibrant downtown. Many communities do this with farmers markets, festivals, outdoor concerts, and so forth. Pensacola built a multi-use stadium, which is also the home of the Double-A baseball team the Blue Wahoos, which draws more than 300,000 fans per year to the city.

Focus on Education.
A good education system creates a strong talent base and appeals to investors. Do everything you can to improve yours, not just now, but in the future. Pensacola needs to bring up high school graduation rates.To impact them long term, the city decided to tackle kindergarten readiness and—to intervene even sooner—early brain development. It started a pilot program with local hospitals to work with new mothers to ensure their babies are hearing enough words. Now Pensacola is making a name for itself as America’s first Early Learning City.™

Relentless Communication.
Communicate often and with everyone; no one should be left out. The more stakeholders and residents understand the process and what the goal is, the more successful your efforts will be. Remember, it’s impossible to go overboard on transparency. Sharing information openly and sincerely inviting feedback builds trust and, ultimately, buy-in.

Once you learn the fundamentals of creating a vibrant community, it’s just a matter of staying on the path. Never declare victory and never give up. Building vibrant communities is about creating a better life for citizens. We have a human responsibility to make the effort.