In 2040, the Brooks Area Regional Center is a friendly, prosperous, healthy, engaged, and educated family. The Brooks Area is strong and supportive; pulling together not only in times of crisis but celebrating wins — big and small.

Its evolution will be a leading example of how innovation, equity, quality growth, and environmentally-responsible practices paired with the inherent traits of the South-eastside, no longer born of necessity but a continued community identity—pride, hard work, perseverance, tolerance, gratitude and a desire to be of service to one another, will have phenomenal positive impacts.

The Brooks Area Regional Center cultivates positive and authentic human experiences and seeks to improve both day-to-day living in conjunction with the long-term quality-of-life for the community.

Goal 1: Belonging, Bonding & Balance

  • Cultivate the tangible and intangible culture and history of the Brooks Area, enabling traditions and culture to be resilient over time.
  • Provide an inclusive, welcoming, friendly, and safe atmosphere.
  • Ensure a balance of owner-occupied housing options as well as quality rental options for all members of the community.
  • Support a healthy and desirable community, social and dining options which provide opportunity for meaningful interactions, and strengthen the cohesive Brooks Area identity; welcoming, pioneering, innovative, and resilient.

Goal 2: Attachment, Access, Authenticity & Accountability

  • Build in impactful and equitable ways to encourage authentic attachment between people and places.
  • Support innovative multimodal transit options that provide access for all ages and abilities.
  • Support a high-quality digital/technology network providing equitable opportunities for attachment, connectivity, and access.
  •  Support creative solutions that lead to real change and improved outcomes; begin to “bend the curve,” “move the needle” or “shift the indexes” towards positive socio-economic change.
  • Support an innovative atmosphere where failure is a stepping stone towards eventual success.
  •  Provide access to places for communal ‘attaching and belonging’ and ‘learning and doing’ at unique, community social gathering places with universal design elements.

Goal 3: Reinvestment, Retention & Responsibility

  • Incentivize high-paying, socially, environmentally, and fiscally responsible employers who reinvest in the Brooks Area community and its spirit of innovation.
  • Incentivize equitable education, housing, and economic opportunities that re-invest in and build the community’s prosperity while being socially and environmentally responsible.
  • Honor the history of innovation and technology by supporting incubators, start-ups, and local business.
  • Retain and invest in innovation and creativity to dissuade migration of talent, youth, and economic resources to other geographies.
  • Support programs which benefit maternal and early childhood investments, investments in teachers and schools, and build family financial stability to address age, race, and education disparities.

Goal 4: Competence, Collaboration & Collective Resilience

  • Advance equitable health outcomes by increasing access to affordable healthcare and local fresh foods, remediating environmental concerns, and strengthening public safety.
  • Ensure people, animals, trees, water, soil, and air co-exist in a healthy, safe, and productive system using the most innovative tools and best practices available.
  • Support, protect, integrate, and ensure access to natural systems and environmental processes.

Goal 5: Prioritize Parks, Public Health & Preservation of Green

  • Preserve and encourage green spaces and reduce impervious surfaces.
  • Create more and safe, multi-generational public parks and organized programming in recreational spaces.
  • Ensure convenient, equitable access to and distribution of parks and open spaces.
  • Improve physical and mental wellbeing by providing places for play, respite, and relaxation and for healing and rehabilitation.
  • Enhance and create trails and greenways that act as connections while also providing direct community health, social, and environmental benefits.

 

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement describes the desired state of a place in the future. With community support, an effective vision can influence decisions and inspire action to move toward that idealized future. Goals further describe the outcomes that will support the realization of the vision. These, in turn, are supported by more specific strategies and actions that will implement the bigger-picture vision and goals. These strategies will involve specific proposed projects, programs, policies, and other means of achieving the community vision.

The Brooks Area Regional Center Vision and Goals were developed with input from residents and community stakeholders through an iterative process of developing and refining these concepts. During preliminary community engagement efforts, community members articulated important values and identified the Brooks Area’s assets, challenges, and opportunities. This community input became the basis for the Brooks Area Vision and Goals which were refined with feedback from the Planning Team and participants at the second Community Meeting.

Come find out How Your Voice Matters!