Que Sera, Sera -- What Will The Future Be?
There are many questions that must be asked when deciding the future. Is the future Maple Valley a large suburb where commute trips take 50-90 minutes, instead of 20-30 in many traditional suburbs or the 30-60 minutes currently experienced by many local residents?
There is a lot of vacant land in and beyond Maple Valley. Traffic congestion, and the cost to correct congestion, grow exponentially with increased population. Will there be housing for today's children when they grow to adulthood? Will there be housing they can afford in their early years? Will there be jobs for those who wish to stay here? What will retirement be like with the current sparsity of health facilities, the lack of places to take walks, and the lack of plazas and shops?
Today, many services people seek are not available in the City of Maple Valley. Will people always want to drive their cars long distances to go to a movie, a theater performance or a white table cloth dinner restaurant? These are all important questions. A Maple Valley that hosts most of the needs of its citizens greatly reduces traffic and the need for costly infrastructure to send people to support another town's economy.
Many citizens taking part in sessions stated they did not want to live here if the future was to be just more people and traffic. They moved here to get away from people, but are now surrounded by others and their living conditions are changing. If these people who came to avoid people move out, who will move in? What will be left behind? If people here are to be surrounded by people, and there is nothing to do locally, will this be a fun place in the future? These too are important questions asked during the charrette.
Children's Needs Come First. Children want nearby work places for their parents. Many children sense that they are abandoned during the day while the town's adults are at work. Out of
concern for safety, many parents do not want their children to go out and walk in the neighborhood, or to walk to school or parks. This is not what life was like when many of the parents grew up. What is quality of life, and how is it achieved?
In sharp contrast to the vacant, abandoned feeling of the street above, Maple Valley can develop a strong vibrant town center similar to this one in downtown Kirkland, Washington. It can consist of neighborhoods with houses with porches and tree lined streets. People may work at home or in their town, living according to the core values expressed in the 5-day charrette. Images like these do not just happen. They are planned, developed, constructed and watched over by caring people.
![[Green Dot]](../pics/greendot.gif){kind=small}