Outside Ever Bigger Boxes

Last week I experienced first hand a great reminder on how being outside the box still means you can still be inside another. 

Last Monday I attended a planning workshop intended gather input on the future development of the main north-south corridor through town.  On each table for discussion was an enlarged aerial photo of downtown proper – spanning only seven blocks of the 3 km planning area.

I figured we might be in some ‘future thinking’ trouble when I asked where was the proposed North Gateway.  The other five folks at the table pointed to the north end of the photo.  I asked the facilitator to clarify the North Gateway location and he specified the area about 1km north of where the photo ends.

I didn’t help matters much when I then asked about a location two blocks off the south edge of the photo.  Fortunately somebody ran back to the office and returned with smaller aerial photos covering the entire length of the corridor.

At the end of the evening the ten groups presented in turn their ideas for the downtown corridor.   I quickly noticed a recurring pattern … the groups focused the vast majority of their comments – likes, dislikes and wanna-have’s  – on the area bounded by the large aerial photo. The additional photos and reminders to look at the other areas had little impact on expanding the initial box.

Three evenings later the consultant’s present their first draft for a vision of the new downtown corridor … some design proposals of what we might see 20-30 years down the road.

I sum up the presentation with my words at the time

my, my – look at what a fresh pair of eyes can do …

They turned a flooding river into a gathering spot, replaced ugly buildings with focal points or parks, eased traffic congestion, moved a couple of poles to create 100 parking spots and the list goes on.

And they made all these changes while honouring the ideas presented three days earlier.

But without those fresh eyes from a much bigger box, nobody would have thought you could move a building, or create a park in that spot, or bring back the original garden plus a public washroom.  Our box was just way too small bounded by what is rather than what can be.

I certainly busted a few boxes last week along with a good reminder there is always something bigger no matter how big I think I see now.