Imagine a Gloucester where developers would build small homes so locals could afford to remain here in the face of the stratospheric rise in housing costs.
Imagine a city where local business, maritime-based industry and a strong creative economy thrive.
Imagine that the nation’s oldest seaport could retain its mix of wealthy and working-class residents, even when real estate goes to the highest bidder with many buyers not living here year-round, thus putting more pressure on year-round residents to compete with those in the highest socioeconomic levels.
These are just some of the ideas floated at a recent “Meeting-in-a-Box” session, sponsored by the Gloucester Cultural Initiative and The Meetinghouse Foundation.
This Gloucester “think-fest” is one of many special gatherings being held to collect information for the city’s comprehensive planning process. The next one is scheduled at City Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 4 p.m.
Those attending these sessions break into small group discussions seeking to create a vision for the city in 2033. Topics include jobs, housing, city services, transportation, protection of historic and natural resources, and climate resilience, among other factors.
This session was held for artists and cultural leaders as well as other interested residents. The session was asked an added question; to discuss the vision for the desired future “culture” of Gloucester, pertaining to the community’s values, relationships and quality of life. Organizers want to learn about the participants’ ideas for strategies to preserve that ideal city culture.
When asked about what makes Gloucester special, Siobhan Lucas said she was impressed with large number of organizations that support residents in need as well as celebrate the city’s rich cultural and maritime heritage.
“Gloucester has a big umbrella of nonprofits that serve the community in many ways,” she said.
In this and at previous sessions, a major topic of discussion is the need to ensure that artists, craftsmen and those who work in the trades remain able to live here, acknowledging their contribution to the current desired culture of the city.
One resident, a Gloucester Astronomy Club member, suggested the need to make sure future development does not create more light pollution because of the diminishing number of people around the world who can view the Milky Way in the night sky. A 2016 National Geographic article noted that 80% of Americans are now unable to see the Milky Way because of growing light pollution.
Several residents talked about the desire to make the city more walkable, and another wondered how to encourage more use of public transportation.
After the Thursday meeting, Valerie Nelson, a member of the Gloucester Cultural Initiative and former city councilor, shared some thoughts from two previous culture-oriented meetings and what residents referred to as the heartbeat of the city.
“Some of the most interesting comments at the Dec. 17 session were connecting the valued cultural diversity and identity of the community to the economy. In other words, it is important to maintain the kind of hands-on work in the trades — for carpenters, electricians, plumbers, boat repairmen, those who work in the fishing industry — along with the value of neighborhood small businesses,” she said.
“If those are fundamental to the highly-valued culture of hands-on work, including the ‘design’ work in the arts, then that might suggest investments and strategies to help those sectors.”
Fostering this kind of environment would attract artists and entrepreneurs to live here and build businesses as they innovate, Nelson said.
“I feel we have just begun to explore the question of how our beloved and special culture is so vital to support — and what the implications are for planning priorities and initiatives,” she said.
More information for those unable to attend can be found at https://bit.ly/48yXBDc. There is a link to a community survey on that site. The Comprehensive Planning Initiative is collecting ideas for Gloucester’s future until Jan. 12.
Gail McCarthy can be reached at 978-675-2706, or at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.