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Creating a Successful City: A New Perspective on 'NIMTO'
by Wendy Grey, AICP
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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles about growth management, planning and visioning.
I first heard the term NIMTO (“Not in my term of office”) in April, when I spoke to Local Government Leadership Class VIII about city planning and municipal leadership. At one point we were sharing acronyms, and NIMTO was mentioned. It was discussed in terms of avoiding unpleasant decisions (such as raising taxes), but I thought it conveyed the idea of implementing a city vision in a very positive way.
Great cities are the result of visionary leadership, and elected officials always are a critical part of that leadership. Whether the vision for improving a city comes from inside government or from a concerned group of citizens, its successful implementation depends on the leadership of elected officials. It is city government, under the direction of the city commission or council, that provides consistency over time. It is city government that has the resources to oversee the vision’s development and nurture it.
Almost by definition, a vision takes a long time to implement. If your city’s vision is to restore a river, you might have a river cleanup day and haul out a lot of trash. It may take decades to stop the pollution and make the river a safe place for people. Your vision may be to create vibrant neighborhoods for people of all ages and incomes. You can help provide new housing, but the stabilization and revitalization of a neighborhood is a more complicated and longer-term commitment. As a visionary official, you will see much progress, but most likely you will not be in office long enough to see the vision fulfilled. That makes your dedication and commitment even more special, because you are building a legacy for the future, not just for your term in office.
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Developing and implementing a vision is a long and often difficult process, so why is it worth doing? First, the right vision provides the motivation for your city to undertake the difficult challenge of creating positive change, and seeing positive change is probably the main reason you decided to run for office. Daniel Burnham, the architect of Chicago’s city plan, said: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood, and probably will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work . . . Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.” He believed that a city’s vision needs to be bold and powerful enough to excite people and gain their commitment. Here are a few examples of successful visions:
A small group of preservationists in Charleston, S.C., initiated an effort to protect the historic resources of the city in the face of increasing development pressure. These citizens saw a city that could prosper by protecting its unique character. The elected leadership responded to the vision by passing the first local historic preservation ordinance in the country. The continued stewardship of the city’s mayor in recent decades has made Charleston world-renowned as a city of history and culture.
For many years, the Willamette River in Portland, Ore., was polluted by raw sewage and industrial waste from its port. In the 1970s, under the leadership of then-Gov. Tom McCall, a major cleanup began. Today, the river is at the heart of a vibrant city and is a major focus of the current mayor’s administration.
In 1909, Daniel Burnham, who is quoted above, created the Plan of Chicago. The plan was based in large part on the growing recognition by planners that the public realm needed to enhance the beauty of cities. The plan envisions boulevards, lakefront parks, and safe, clean neighborhoods. The vision contained in the plan is so appropriate and so motivational that, nearly 100 years later, the city continues to be guided by it.
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The second significant thing about a vision is that it provides direction for your city to act in a unified and consistent way. The vision drives your city’s budget priorities, regulations, interactions with other governmental agencies, and development review. When the vision is properly incorporated into plans and regulations, you have the basis for making predictable, consistent decisions that achieve the vision in a way people understand and view as fair. It is that kind of consistent decision-making over time that takes the vision from a plan to reality.
As an elected official, you have both an opportunity and an obligation to create or support the vision for your city. Think about what everyone loves about your city. It could be live oak trees, lakes, beaches, a park, or the style and character of the neighborhoods. Now think about how those special places are being protected and incorporated into the plans for the future of your city. Take a minute to think about the kind of environment your children live in: Is it safe and friendly? Do the elderly have some level of independence so they can shop and visit their friends? Are there places where city residents can come together, formally or informally, to share each other’s company? As you think about these things, talk to as many people as you can, see what their vision is, and how it fits with yours.
Once you have a picture of the vision, you begin the process of building support for it, making sure it is recognized into your city’s plan, and designing its implementation.
Creating and implementing a vision for your city is a complex and evolutionary process. It requires not just vision, but determination, persistence and flexibility. In future articles, we will discuss some of the strategies that you can use to help create and implement the vision for your city and some obstacles you can expect to encounter along the way. Meanwhile, take a fresh look at your city and think big enough to see what it has the potential to become – not just in the near term, but in someone else’s term of office.
Wendy Grey, AICP, is a planning and land use consultant. Previously, she was director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department for 10 years and worked for the Florida Department of Community Affairs. For the Florida League of Cities, Grey provides educational programs on planning and growth management to League members and analyzes the impact of proposed planning legislation on cities.
Reprinted from Quality Cities May/June 2003
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