As Heartland Visioning enters its fourth year, there are many successes and milestones to celebrate. Topeka and Shawnee County have made impressive strides since the vision project began in 2008.
One of those impressive feats is the North Topeka Art District. This district would have never come to fruition without community-wide collaborative efforts. NOTO is now home to artists' studios, a community art center and has spurred economic growth along North Kansas Avenue.
Four years ago, a diverse group of 5,000 people from our community came together and told Heartland Visioning what they wanted to see our community look like in the future. And thanks to the collaborative effort of individuals and organizations, we succeeded in creating a true community vision project.
In the early part of 2012, Heartland Visioning will release its annual report; updating you on our last year of visioning. But like any major project we need to consistently review, revise and refocus our efforts.
And that's what we will be doing in 2012. Both our Administration and Steering committees have reviewed and ratified a work plan for 2012, which includes:
- Looking at our progress as a community to determine how we can make the vision process better;
- Reviewing of our strategic plan and taking it back to you, the community, for feedback and approval;
- Continued efforts to build community capacity in order to ensure there is continued energy, expertise and interest at the grassroots level to continue the success of the strategic plan
In the past three years we have seen great improvements that move in the direction of our vision. We hope to build off the success as we move forward. It's our time for improvements, growth and prosperity for our citizens to be realized.
We hope to continue to hear from you about what you want to see in our community.
Happy New Year,
Gina Millsap & Harry Craig
Heartland Visioning Co-Chairs
