You're probably familiar with the expression 'You can't see the forest for the trees.' I experienced it not long ago on Chelsea Harbor Drive after getting stuck at the traffic light at the entrance to Howard Brown Park across from that hideous parking garage obstructing the view of the harbor from Water Street.
So many different things happen in that little park - not as many as some would like and probably more than many fishermen would like. Still, I’d missed the return of the Norwich Downtown Farmers Market, every Wednesday from ten to two in the afternoon, through October. Boom! There it was (and will be again tomorrow).
Local farmers offer their fruits and vegetables while artists and artisans have handmade products and art pieces. You get fresh air, grab some lunch, and spend a few minutes watching the cars and trucks race down Chelsea Harbor Drive in the Norwich Grand Prix. (Checkered flags sold separately.)
Why the Downtown Farmers Market initiative is important
Initiatives like the Downtown Farmers Market are important and not just for farmers. They attract people who might otherwise not have reasons to be downtown (like me or you) and with their engagement and interaction create new or additional opportunities for themselves and others. It’s called change.
The Downtown Farmers Market is also another step back from that paralyzing fear of failure we have here that says, ‘If I don’t do anything, I can’t do anything wrong.’ Of course, not doing anything means nothing changes, and as you’re learning while reading your recent property tax bills the notion of NOT ever changing is not an especially good idea. Stasis is not the natural state of any living thing, and our city is very much a living thing.
We've made attempts at Smart Growth and Economic Development but that’s when the trouble seems to start. Everybody wants to drive but no one wants to study the map, and when you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. I, for one, have had enough scenic detours.
An economic development map needs to define destinations and develop consensus on a path and a timeline with milestones to chart our progress. And we have to stop saying 'we're moving forward' and actually move forward.
None of this is, or should be, new. There have always been trees in the forest. And we have a history of decision-delay and analysis paralysis. If you were to gather up all the studies, surveys, plans, and proposals for Norwich in just the thirty-three years I've lived here and stack them on top of one another they might reach the moon, but I doubt they could reach a conclusion. That seems to be the way we like it.
Good intentions and well-meaning will not increase the Grand List and while hope as Andy Dufresne once said, "Is a good thing, maybe the best of things," Hope is Not a Plan.
Without data, decisions, large and small, too often are based on opinions and beliefs and when that’s the case, your mileage may vary, and with it, the results for which you were hoping.
There’s a saying, not necessarily in a forest although it would be appropriate I suppose, ‘Measure twice and cut once.’ Measuring is knowing when you have enough information to decide. Cutting is making a decision then following through with the consequences, and accepting, understanding, and using them to help take us to where we need to go next.
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