Dream Community Unlike the Popular

Dream Community

Unlike the popular Disneyland ideal of "Celebration U.S.A.," the Walt Disney World ideal 'planned community' in central Florida, which boasted a virtually all-white and middle-class population in a land of suburban sprawl and draconian rules governing the behavior of residents, (including forbidding the town's dwellers to complain about the mosquitoes, according to Frantz and Collins, 2000, study of the city) my ideal community would be racially diverse, and boast not of its wealth, but of a common educational and institutional framework. Cohesion would be created not by laws and regulations, but by a commitment to the community on the part of residents, and incentives through tax breaks and shared values.

Demographics

The town would be racially, ethnically and culturally diverse, and boast of a variety of religious groups, sexual orientations, and immigrants from a variety of the country. The town's population would be between 100,000-200,000; large enough for diversity, but not so large that it would seem impersonal. The town would have many young people, but not so many as to unbalance the community, as younger people are more frequently transient in community alliances. Older people would act as teachers to the town's youth, but would not dominate the population, as older people are often less likely to invest in educational efforts for fear of raising taxes. Rather, younger couples with children, and students from the local university would make up the town majority.

The ideal community would be fairly centrally located in its income spread, as often wealthier people use homes to isolate themselves from the larger would, and civic minded professionals such as teachers, nurses, social workers, as well as doctors and lawyers would make up the community. The median income would be around 80,000 dollars, but most of the revenue of the wealthiest members of the town would come from the teaching community at the local college, so the wealthier people would still have a commitment to the overall health of the community. For a real-life example, the town of Cary has the highest median income ($77,091) in North Carolina and claims the highest percentage of Ph.D.s in the country for towns with more than 75,000 people, but still, "neighbors know each other by name," because so many are connected to one of the fourteen major universities within an hour's drive. (CNN, 2005) vibrant artist's community and thriving local university of civic-minded students would add to the demographic and cultural mix, as well as provide a source of some of the lower-income jobs, as students and artists are dependant upon temporary work to supplement their other jobs or studies.

The government and private, and non-profit services

Ideally, local government should be 'lean' but still responsive to government needs. Frequent town meetings and local elections would make government more responsive to community concerns. There should also be private charities to help the indigent, and a strong commitment to raising funds for such private and non-profit organizations via fundraisers. To use the example of Cary once again, although Mayor Glen Lang is also the millionaire CEO of a wireless broadband company, he answers his own phone to save the community the additional cost of employing a secretary -- much like Mayor Bloomberg in NYC takes the subway to avoid the cost to the city of a car. (CNN, 2005)

Health high frequency not only of hospitals, but also preventative care facilities, such as health clubs, clinics for pregnant or new mothers, and seniors, would be critical to the ideal community.

Education

Ideally, educational institutions would boast a high student to pupil ratio. Lest this seem unrealistic with the wide array of population diversity and perhaps a high population of young people, note that Cary, North Carolina, one of Money Magazine's ideal communities, has a population of 104, 212, and a student to teacher ratio of 12:4 in all its public schools. Magnet schools for the gifted would insure that the talents of the 'best and brightest' are fostered, and the presence of a nearby university could supplement the education of all students. Older people could receive tax incentives to act as teachers to students in areas of expertise, or simply to help out as coaches or staff. Ideally, private educational institutions would be few, to ensure a lack of a drain of community resources from the public schools, although private schools could supplement student education for students with special needs that could not be met by the public system.

Transportation

Unless it was required for their daily work-related commute, residents would agree to drive fuel-efficient cars and receive tax credits if they drove hybrid or electric cars.

Safety

Community watch groups would supplement the police force. Both police and volunteer organizations would also engage in educational efforts with the school system regarding anti-drug, anti-bullying, and anti-violence campaigns. Fire safety would be ensured by a professionally trained core force, supplemented by a group of volunteers for less vigorous conflagrations.

Waste collection

Collection would occur twice weekly for trash, and there would be mandatory weekly recycling of paper, plastics, and aluminum.

Public utilities

Indigent residents would receive assistance.

How are services paid for?

Property taxes, solicited contributions for fire and safety services, and state and federal government grants for cutting-edge educational initiatives and environmental conservation efforts.

Physical Structure of the Community

All structures would be easy to reach by walking or bicycle, ideally all community members could walk or bike to school for at least part of the year.

Type of housing

Most people would own their own homes, but houses would be modest and relatively closely located, to create a true communal feeling.

Parks and recreational areas

Areas for local student sports teams, and general areas to play would be plentiful, encouraging community and personal health through athletic initiatives.

Office buildings

Office spaces would be located near parks, to encourage after-hours athleticism and meet local as well as federal requirements for clean air and ventilation.

Shopping areas

The town would o malls, open markets spaces where during the summer local vendors could sell produce, and sufficient local and independent vendors to balance out major chains.