The Lines are Blurring

I've lived in urban settings most of my life and consider myself an urbanist or 'city planner'. While I've not held public office or have sought employment that is specifically oriented to city or town planning, I have taken where I live seriously - as have most of my acquaintances.

Most people I know, and this is probably true of you, have taken some kind of active role in their community or city in an effort to participate in its wellness. And so you've joined block watches, or attend council meetings or maybe even visit your kids school - all intentional activities that signal you are engaged and aware.

I think about our beloved City of Toledo, and it's surrounding communities a lot - I mean a lot. While Toledo is the most densely populated area in our region it is also an island in a sea of rural communities - as is most of the Midwest. As a matter of fact, one of the more distinctive desirables of our City is that you can be in 'the country' inside of 20 minutes from any location.

That being said, when you look at traditional urban vs. rural issues, or for that matter urban vs. suburban issues - is there really a difference any more? A careful search of statistics and percentages of statistics against population densities doesn't really yield that large of a swing in terms of contrast as it did, lets say even a decade ago.

For example, forcible rape, burglary, larceny and property crimes in Findlay are higher than the national average. Yes, and you've figured it out - the same is true of Toledo in the same categories.

Drop out rates, graduation rates and enrollment rates across Northwest Ohio when put in perspective of population densities don't really change from District to District and if they do, it's only by a few percentage points either way.

Here's today's question; "When considering strategies to bring about community wellness, can we afford to continue delineating solutions by specifying what is urban, suburban or rural?"

I don't think so.

Poverty, addictions of every kind, the break down of the family unit and the near obliteration of the value of parents have all contributed to blurring and in most cases have erased the lines of urban vs. rural.

The 263 men and women that slept in one of the beds at Cherry Street Mission Ministries last night did not all come from Toledo. As a matter of fact, nearly half of the men and women we serve on any given day were not raised in, or came from Toledo.

What we face as a community can no longer be defined by something so small as geography. What we participate in for the betterment of the whole is a people [person by person] schematic and must be addressed by the 'who' standard rather than the 'where' standard.

And so our planning as concerned and engaged citizens must be within the context of our present realities. We would do well not to surrender or limit our actions or intentions to the old model of urban vs. rural. Choosing instead to focus on the real and systemic issues of the human condition.

It's not complicated, it's just complex
Dan