Neighborhoods and communities are developing their own sense of self throughout the United States, creating their own community programs and offering up their own resources to get the job done. This revived interest in the local community action is a positive development and thus many neighborhoods don't understand why they meet resistance from the local city and town officials when everyone is supposed to be working for the common good of the community.
Most community action programs started by the community start on the front stoop of someones home. Five people congregating and discussing the neighborhoods issues can make a huge difference, provided it is taken to the next step. This is where working with the local city and town officials becomes dreadfully important. Ideas are born on these front porches and problems are solved over coffee and tea before work. If these ideas stay on the front stoop, they arent going to make a bit of difference in the neighborhoods that need the input. Real estate agents, real estate investors, and real estate tycoons all have a hand in getting involved in these types of community action programs just waiting to unfold.
Some neighborhoods already have a unified civic league, which is really nothing more than people in the neighborhood who care enough to meet and discuss the issues related to the area and hopefully brainstorm how to solve them. If your neighborhood is without a civic league, starting one is simple. Whether the civic league is official yet or consists of five thoughtful women having coffee on the front porch, the league is going to need a liaison. The best liaisons between neighborhood civic leagues and the city or town officials is usually an attorney.
Attorneys will often take on the responsibility for very low fees when it might benefit their career. By using a lawyer that has an established or an establish-able relationship with the correct officials, communications between the officials and the civic league become significantly less strained. Most often the goals of both parties are identical and the only hang up is communication and practical application. Local city and town officials have regulations that need to be followed and general civic leagues find this disconcerting and frustrating. Having an interested liaison between the two parties can help facilitate the communication process to reach the goals while focusing each party on the common element and delegating responsibilities in order to achieve these goals faster.
Despite the fact that working directly with local city or town officials can be frustrating for citizens as well as real estate professionals, the working relationship will be vital throughout all the dealings relating to neighborhood improvements. Most citizen organized civic leagues find the number one source of frustration to be the vast rules and regulations by which the city officials are bound. It can seem counter productive, especially when a solution seems so simple, that everything has to be run through the appropriate channels. Again, having a liaison can ease this strain but also having understanding that nothing in government, whether local or federal, is likely to move quickly and will require the proper application process.
Hot headed commentary or argumentative behavior is likely to turn local officials off a project. The old adage, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, applies here. If you want to keep the communitys plans in the forefront, you are going to have to hold your tongue occasionally.
When running into issues dealing with outright prejudice and discrimination, taking a strong stance is necessary, but you are still going to need to back up your strong stance with a healthy dose of honey. While issues can ignite flames under someones motivation, community projects wont ever be accomplished when two sides are battling out an issue of discrimination. A prime example of this can be found in Norfolk, Virginia. The civic league of one of the communities wanted to start a community outreach program for the youth of the area. On the drawing board was an inclusive community help program for gay and lesbian and questioning youth.
The entire project was continually shot down based on this inclusion. The civic league spent five years battling the officials who felt they did not want to promote gay, lesbian, or questioning youth in any fashion. The issue was never completely resolved however, until the community support building was built and the civic league started an outreach program aimed at all kids, hosting special gay, lesbian, and questioning events alongside their programs for the gifted, at risk, and first offenders program. The entire project was held up for five years over debating the perceived morality of helping these youth rather than finding creative ways of helping all youth. Both parties contributed to the slow down of the project which to this day has grown and become a highly successful community action program.
There are numerous professionals that would be more than willing to lend a hand in the future developments of plans and improvements. Going back to the front porch discussions, someone on that porch probably knows a contractor and someone else probably knows an engineer, an architect, or a developer. If they dont know one, they usually at least know who to ask to find one. Professionals such as these can often be asked to join forces with the civic league in order to create improvements throughout the community, whether youre talking about a new park for the kids or saving a historical building, or even launching new construction.
It is quite likely that these professionals will also have their own unique ideas to bring to the table and can contribute much more than just their professional skill. Having these contacts already in place can help cut through a lot of time while waiting for city and local officials to get around to finding the right people for the job. While they may still insist on putting their own choices out there first, presenting them with a knowledgeable and fair professional for future works is always a benefit. Real estate professionals should have vast resources regarding these professionals and should be able to lay their hands on one quickly. By bringing together the front porch community action plan and the real estate officials right alongside the town officials, community enhancement takes on a whole new face.
Town officials are going to have their own agenda. They are also a good resource despite the frustration that many citizens find themselves engulfed in when dealing with them. Their agenda is going to take precedence over yours unless they have good reason to alter their course. By developing a strong working relationship with them, the two various agendas are likely to meet in the middle and come up with solutions that work well for the community and promote healthier and stronger community based programs.
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