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<br />Developing a Transition and Heritage Strategy <br /> <br />As indicated in the opening paragraph of this White Paper, the service options identified are intended to <br />be of equal usefulness to the City, other service providers, and the neighborhoods in fostering a creative <br />dialogue on urbanization impacts and in reaching mutual agreement on effective strategies to sustain <br />current and historic community institutions and heritage in the face of the changes brought about by <br />urbanization. An effective means of building consensus and defining just what it means to “sustain current <br />and historic community institutions and heritage” is through the development of a Transition and Heritage <br />Strategy. <br /> <br />This White Paper is intended to be the starting point from which such a strategy or strategies can be <br />established. Accordingly, and in the spirit of using this White Paper as a “handbook”, a few suggestions <br />for structuring and working through a River Road/Santa Clara Transition and Heritage Strategy follow: <br /> <br />1. What’s the difference between an option (as presented in this White Paper) and a strategy? <br /> <br />? <br />option <br /> An is a focused change addressing a limited activity or a variation of a single <br />service. The impact could be significant for the service, but doesn’t necessarily result in <br />outcomes addressing larger community issues and goals. <br />? <br />strategy <br /> A brings together a set of options, activities, positions, and actions that can <br />span several services, and that when taken together can advance long term community <br />goals and desired outcomes. <br /> <br />2. Why create a strategy at all? Why not pick a set of options and independently implement <br />them? <br /> <br />? <br /> Any option could be selected and worked on independently and “in the moment”, but the <br />long term impacts might not be understood (or may prove to have been misunderstood). <br />? <br /> Neighborhoods are dynamic and complex entities, and rarely can problems (and effective <br />solutions) be boiled down to a single issue or option. <br />? <br /> The risk is run that separately implemented options may conflict with each other or cancel <br />each other out. A strategy can reduce this risk. <br />? <br /> A strategy is more than a grouping of options, it articulates a series of principals and <br />outcomes that help the community stay focused on the “big picture”. <br /> <br />3. What are the elements of an effective strategy? <br /> <br />? <br /> The most effective strategy is based on a clearly stated and agreed to mission or vision <br />and set of goals. A less effective strategy doesn’t include an agreed to mission and set of <br />goals. <br />? <br /> An effective strategy has clear structure and boundaries – in this case perhaps the <br />boundaries of River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods and/or by limiting the strategy <br />to just a couple of service areas (it might even turn out that the two neighborhoods <br />warrant separate strategies). <br />? <br /> The strategy with the best chance of success is the one that ends up with a unified <br />“theme” or “themes” and a set of desired outcomes consistent with the stated vision and <br />goals. The Transition Task Force may wish to consider the six “unifying” categories <br />Benchmarks <br />defined under the section of this White Paper as a starting point in <br />developing a theme or themes. <br />? <br /> Implementation actions that are clearly within the authority or ability of the group adopting <br />the strategy are most effective. The more the group has to rely on others to implement a <br />strategy, the more problematic things become. This will be a particular and major <br />challenge for River Road and Santa Clara, Transition Task Force is an ad-hoc advisory <br />7 <br />River Road/Santa Clara Transition/Heritage White Paper <br />DRAFT <br />11-24-05 <br /> <br />Service provider Review <br /> <br />