CBLCA hosted a community conversation last November to begin to create a shared vision for our community. The goal was to gather information about how our neighbours want to see our community evolve, specifically within the context of a growing city and the desire to preserve and strengthen what makes CBL great. Many of you participated in person or via the post-event community vision survey.
Now that we have compiled and analyzed the results, CBLCA has launched a report entitled “A Vision for our Community: 2020 and Beyond,” which we encourage you to read or download here. For a quick visual summary, you can also check out the infographic below.
CBLCA intends to work towards upholding this vision for our community within our scope and mandate. The information will be used to inform our work and our position in the co-creation of our community of the future.
In fact, it is encouraging to see that much of the association’s work aligns with the themes you identified through this discussion. For example, desired mobility improvements in and around the community are reflected by CBLCA “wins” including the sidewalk and lighting along Corkstown Rd, traffic calming measures on Carling and COrkstown, and most recently, the City’s announcement that Corkstown will remain open to two-way traffic.
The 2020 TTIC survey, which will remain open throughout March, follows up to gather your input on potential improvements to local bus routes.
CBLCA continues to partner with the City, the Ottawa Carleton Wildlife Centre, the Rideau Conservation Authority, Bike Ottawa, and neighbouring community associations to improve connectivity and protect the greenspace and wildlife that we so cherish.
Your neighbourly contributions and ideas towards strengthening our sense of belonging are appreciated by everyone who calls CBL home. This spring, CBLCA will continue to engage with you and with the City to improve our parks and better leverage our shared gathering spaces for the benefit of all.
However, it is important to note the apparent misalignment in fully achieving the vision described in the report. For example, many neighbours expressed the desire for more local amenities, but do not want increased intensification or loss of greenspace; which would likely be required to support local businesses. Neighbours also do not want increased traffic but want to maintain easy access to main roadways; which are typically busier and noisier streets.
Belonging to a community means we need to respect, listening and value different points of view in order to collaborate towards a shared future. Overall, the feedback throughout this conversation made it evident that we live in a great neighbourhood with good people and beautiful natural surroundings. CBLCA will aim to preserve and strengthen what makes CBL great and consider the suggestions for improvement discussed as we evolve into our community of the future.
I wonder if those suggesting the need for a grocery store have visited the store in the plaza on Ullswater Drive.
They will find a grocery with a very limited selection which suggests the lack of viability for a grocery given the three large groceries in Bells Corners.