From Values to Actions

Victor, ID — “What’s it to you?” That’s a question Envision Victor has been asking Victor, Idaho residents as part of a Heart & Soul Community Planning initiative supported by the Orton Family Foundation. Through surveys, news articles, podcasts, blog posts, design competitions, storytelling events and community conversations, Victor residents have identified five qualities that they value most in their community: small town feel; family friendliness; sustainability; cultural history; and connection to nature.

Neither consultants nor outside experts performed this initial work. Instead, people who call the City of Victor home—citizens, elected officials, long-time residents and new arrivals—worked together and identified these attributes over the past year. People listened to one another and had the chance to share personal accounts. In so doing, Victor residents have started to bridge divides and recognize common ground. These new connections, a renewed sense of community, and Victor’s five shared qualities will shape the City’s plans for the future.

In mid-April, Envision Victor held a series of events designed so that residents could investigate and explain how established values manifest themselves in their everyday lives. Results from the events will guide Envision Victor’s work developing quantifiable indicators that will direct the City’s land use and community planning decisions. April’s events, held over the course of three days, attracted nearly 100 people (including local officials)—close to ten percent of the total population—a number of whom were new to both Envision Victor and community involvement in general.

“Envision Victor confirms, even halfway through the project, that people do want to know their neighbors, that they are willing to participate, and that they needed a new way to engage in planning their town,” said John Carney, Orton’s Rocky Mountain Director of Projects. “Heart & Soul Community Planning satisfies that need.”

Up next: the values and indicators identified and defined by the community will be integrated into a CommunityViz^® planning model, which will allow elected officials to evaluate how their decisions will impact the five qualities that matter most to their community. Envision Victor partners and staff as well as local residents will work closely with City staff to ensure that all important decisions and plans affecting Victor’s future—such as a Main Street Plan and a Capital Improvements Plan—preserve or enhance Victor’s heart and soul.

To learn more about our work in this Rocky Mountain border town 6,214 feet above sea level, read this article from the Spring 2009 edition of Orton’s Scenarios E-Journal, visit the Foundation’s project profile and find out what’s new at www.envisionvictor.com.

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For More Information:

Dahvi Wilson, Project Coordinator
541 Village Way
Victor, ID 83455
envisionvictor@gmail.com
www.victorcityidaho.com

John Barstow, Director of Communications
Orton Family Foundation
PO Box 111 (152 Maple St., Suite 101)
Middlebury, VT 05753
802.388.6336
communications@orton.org
www.orton.org