GRAND VALLEY, COLORADO, 2001
Project Description
James Kent Associates (JKA) was retained to carry out a unified visioning process for the Grand Valley, an area that includes several municipalities and large tracts of unincorporated land. Representatives of each community and the County formed a Steering Committee to advise the project. JKA carried out a visioning process in the communities, identified strategies for achieving the vision, and considered specific actions relevant to each strategy. The visioning component of the project was built around JKA’s Discovery Process™.
Finance and Support
The project was jointly financed and run by the municipalities within the Grand Junction region and Mesa County.
Stakeholders
All citizens within the Grand Valley region were considered stakeholders. In addition, JKA considered formal and informal networks and organizations to be discrete stakeholders.
Methods
The Discovery Process™ is a specific methodology developed by JKA for community visioning, as described in the Processes section. The company tailored the process to the Grand Valley, in terms of participation and evaluation methods. The visioning process involves a wide range of community information sources, including books, newspaper articles, interviews, focus groups, surveys, and behavior mapping. JKA pays particular attention to the informal networks—neighborhoods, recreational groups, etc.—that hold communities together. All of the data and stories for Grand Valley 20/20 were collated and analyzed to reveal several broad strengths, which JKA asserted are at the center of community character. For example, the region’s long history as an isolated outpost and rugged frontier town are critical elements of character; JKA characterizes the actual character element as self-sufficiency. These broad elements were presented along with quotes from residents that illustrate the values behind them.
JKA then developed five strategies for maintaining or improving community stability: honoring civic protocols, building capacity, developing social capital, enhancing diversity, and ensuring predictability. While the strategies did not specifically address community character, JKA theorized that protection of community character will follow from adherence to these strategies. Finally, JKA considered actions to move the strategies forward, at several different “action levels”: removing barriers, generating momentum, engaging, and integrating. Many of the action steps addressed specific issues of character that emerged from interviews and value statements, such as prohibiting truck traffic through an important historic district. Many of the steps are designed specifically to encourage civic entrepreneurs and other citizens to take action and build civic capital.
Outcomes
JKA produced a vision document for the community at the close of the project. The City of Grand Junction references the Vision 20/20 plan on its website and indicates that city planning processes are considering it.
Evaluation
The Grand Valley 20/20 Process did not include an evaluation component.
Innovative Ideas
The patchwork of sources used in the Discovery Process allowed JKA to access information unavailable in many more traditional visioning processes. Historical accounts of the region (from newspapers, books, or storytelling) allowed for comparison of present and past values. Use of meetings at various levels of human organization (from neighborhood chat sessions to village meetings) provided access to a variety of networks and individuals, but also to organizations (formal or informal) that function as “superorganisms”—those that have opinions, concepts of character, and needs that may be separate from those of their members.
http://www.gjcity.org/CityDeptWebPages/Administration/CityManager/Vision...
GRAND VALLEY VISION 20/20 AT A GLANCE
COMMUNITY TYPE
Rural/ suburban/ urban
AREA
150 square miles
POPULATION
60,000 (est.)
LOCATION
Colorado
PROCESS
Discovery Process
PROJECT LEADERS
Mesa County
Grand Valley municipalities
James Kent Associates
PROJECT THEMES
Community Character
Development