~ Community Visioning Kick-Off ~

Round Table Discussion "Notes"
November 30, 2006

Q1: What do you value most deeply about your community?

• I know everyone on my street; I value their contributions to community
• The easy access to a natural surrounding yet closet to the durable amenities
• The quantities of rural living yet close to other communities
• Wide open spaces, wooded areas and resulting peace & privacy
• Sense of community pride
• The people
• The people who live here
• Sense of community
• Schools, properties, neighbours, quietness
• Its sense of rural atmosphere
• Large amount of lakes, adequate services, not too big
• Has a history “The Shubenacadie Canal”
• Small town in the big city
• Job market without spending hours commuting
• Sense of pride everyone has in their property and community on the whole
• Diversity and caring – friendliness
• Natural resources – green space, lakes, parks, water (clean & plentiful)
• Sense of community – more than bedroom community
• Good mix of old & new
• Conveniently located
• Good neighbours and a semi-country style of life
• Green space
• The fact that Fall River has a real village-like atmosphere and that everyone exhibits a sense of community
• People are very friendly and like the fact that everyone knows you by your first name
• Green
• Schools
• Sense of community identity
• Natural beauty/setting
• Lack of obtrusive commercial development (so far)
• Small town feel with advantage of close proximity to Halifax center
• Proximity to the city while still maintaining “small town” feeling
• Quiet area, relativity crime-free, good place for raising children (schools)
• The people – sense of community
• Neighbourhoods
• Good place to raise kids
• Potential of this area
• The sheer beauty of the lakes and surroundings, the neighbourhood I live in and the way of life in it
• Large housing lots
• Parks, recreation facilities
• Good schools
• Close proximity to city
• Lack of obtrusive commercial buildings
• Supporting local businesses
• Sense of community
• Awesome schools
• Fact that when out for a walk I feel safe, greeted by people I meet
• Awesome youth who are here – even if they are not always prominent
• Convenient place to live – close to both major cities
• Large lots, country setting, nice setting
• Relatively safe place to live
• Fall River is still a small community where most people know each other
• It is still a community – not an urban center
• In this community we have lakes, good roads, space, lots of people, stores, churches, schools, etc. things that other people have to go to different communities to get all these conveniences. We are lucky.
• People, residents
• Friendliness & genuine concern for others
• This community is a community that cares about its inhabitants
• Neighbours keep an eye out for neighbours. The children are safe and everyone ensures they are
• Value of community – suburban/rural living very close to the urban centre
• Small enough to know others within the area (friendliness)
• A strong sense of belonging to a family-oriented community
• Quality of life enjoyed in our rural community
• The sense of growing and providing for my family with a sustainable and progressive lifestyle

Q2: Can you share a personal story about when you felt involved and excited about your community?

• Everyday, just by the nature of my job
• Involved in a community protest to restrict the expansion of a nearby quarry
• Being involved
• Developing a field in Capilano, getting the community involved in preparing ground, laying sod etc.
• Very involved and excited about our community
• When we built our new high school
• When we worked on a visioning exercise for Ash Lee Jefferson
• When our school developed a football team & we participated in fundraising to help sustain it
• Tonight feels like the beginning of a huge commitment to the community
• When I attend the Fall River Recreation Centre playgroup with my children, I have the opportunity to meet many people in my community and this excites me
• Also meeting my neighbours on the street and chatting
• When I got involved with the recreation aspects of the community
• Hurricane Juan
• I am excited about development which improves facilities while not spoiling the semi-rural atmosphere
• Everyday I feel proud and excited about our community. As a new resident to the area (12 months) we are constantly finding new ways to be engaged as a family. In our neighbourhood we are growing rapidly and I have and many opportunities to work with neighbours & various political representatives to meet identified needs (i.e. playground)
• I chaired Waverley gold rush days for 3 years
• When over 100 residents met to slow down development & protect our natural assets
• Involvement with GVP band/school activities
• The way people helped each other after Hurricane Juan
• Involved in Capilano playground committee
• Began to meet people through work and activities offered within the community
• Our family always takes great pride in the annual Keloose Festival and Friends every year. We try to plan family gatherings around this event
• My community has been started working together to plan and build a play area for our kids
• Community fundraising – school events / sports festivals & events – Keloose, Windsor Junction Community Centre
• Finally got a playground built in an area that sorely needed one
• When I started to speak to people in neighbouring communities of similar sizes and realized that Fall River area was missing out on lots of things other people take for granted. That is when I decided to get involved and fight for what is deserved
• Volunteering – gaining more knowledge of community, its people, and opportunities
• Something that fives a sense of community for me is the Santa Claus parade
• Keloose
• Waverley Gold Rush
• Community clean-ups & support that is given to schools/community groups (i.e. building scouting sports)
• I have been on community committees that have helped the community to group to the great place that it is
• Joining the volunteer department and getting involved
• When I was involved with the process of finding and building a place for our new Recreation Centre
• During the hurricane, every one of the neighbours worked together to ensure everyone was safe, had food, water etc. I come from a large city where this would most likely not have happened
• One council election, 2 provincial elections and have dealt with it all – my story probably is a negative one in which I felt the frustration with lack of community participation except to be reactive to decision making (mostly negative)
• Coaching a girls team and getting to know others within the area
• Our street organized a team and participated for the past two years in a community softball tournament, brought people and families together
• Having taught in this community for over 30 years I have always felt very involved in the lives of the children/adults I have watched develop
• I have enjoyed working on several community projects: residential zoning, supporting water for Windsor junction, paving or our street
• Trying and failing to limit over-development of our subdivision

Q3: What three wishes do you have for Fall River?

• Safe community
• Healthy community
• More in the way of infrastructure from seniors facilities to public transit
• Avoid becoming too commercially focussed
• Retain the natural landscape in significant sizes
• Develop more green transportation
• Develop more outdoor recreation
• Control over-development – don’t grow too much, too quickly
• Care taken with types of development
• Keeping and enhancing community beautification
• That we don’t grow faster than our capacity – as in Bedford / Hammonds Plains
• That our community is one that is accessible fro people of all ages
• That we some day have a public transportation system
• Open communication and sharing of information
• Good quality & affordable water for everyone
• Lands for parks and recreations – preserving forests
• Senior citizens home so we can stay in Fall River
• Having water & sewer
• Retain its unique quaintness
• That it grow and develop based on a plan developed by the community, not by government types who don’t live here
• That it doesn’t fall into the Sackville Drive situation
• Water services
• Rink
• Transit
• Sports facility with a pool
• Seniors residence
• Quality commercial development
• Central water service implemented over the long term & particularly swimming pool for all year
• Keep the quiet slower-paced comfortable small-town feel
• Keep the beauty, the respect for nature and specifically natural resources (water)
• Grow the community in a way that is respectful of this
• That growth is limited
• More parks
• Senior housing & recreation facilities for seniors
• Stay small town – no high-rise buildings
• Senior faculties so that residents can continue to live here
• Public access to many lakes that surround us
• Leave a community for our children and grand children
• Maintain natural environment and not become a sprawling suburb
• Bike path along Waverley road between Fall River & Dartmouth (good for tourism, bike tours etc.)
• Protect water from over development which causes contaminated supply and reduced volume
• Senior Citizens Housing
• More resources for special needs
• A place for youth (14 – 19) to congregate and programs
• Water service for all residents
• Senior housing for Fall River
• Transit service that works
• More parks
• Traffic controlled
• French school transportation
• Crime
• That Fall River never loses its village like atmosphere – that it doesn’t become over-commercialized
• Any new buildings blend in with the current architecture of building in Fall River. There should be some kind of building regulation that new buildings should have a facade that blends in nicely with the surrounding buildings
• Have a promenade along the waterfront with Victoria lamps to exhibit “old time” atmosphere. Flower baskets hanging from lights
• Having more character than a commercial area
• Maintain the school system at its present level
• Maintain & develop the infrastructure as it grows
• Maintain beautiful setting/managed development
• Community services – library, community policing
• Affordable water and sewage services
• Better recreation facilities
• More water
• More mass transit
• Central water
• Recreation facilities (arena, soccer turf, gym), parks
• Community facilities i.e. library, senior’s place
• Frequent reliable, useful public transit
• Library
• Youth opportunities – cinema, sports fields, tracks
• Water
• Recreational facilities – rink, football, soccer
• Library which we are being billed for in taxes
• Health & wellness centre
• Encourage healthy active lifestyle
• Education
• Alternative healing practices
• Organic foods
• Environmentally friendly products
• More options for youth to be active vs. hanging out at Tim’s
  Places where people meet & gather at all life stages
• Want to see more youth engagement
• Want to see a community where people of all ages, all walks of life connect & interact
• Want to see a community that people are proud to call home
• Installation of municipal water to greater Fall River
• Slow growth until we have water
• Increased transportation
• Community centre
• Wider roadways for cycling
• Like to see our community to be a happy healthy place for us to live in & be proud
• We need not only subdivisions, we need to develop parks and lakes to enjoy them too
• Water
• Buses
• Senior’s residence/complex
• Train to downtown/Bedford/Sackville
• Park beside a lake where both young & old can just sit, walk, and play
• Gym rental at cheaper rate
• More allowance for commercial services in terms of growing
• A development plan makes developers install water and sewer services
• A recreation centre
• Participation in the process
• Acceptance of the results
• Complementation of the process findings
• Easy access to transportation
• Senior’s facility
• Access to all facilities within the community – water
• Transit service
• Rink/better recreation centre
• Water services where needed
• Continued growth for all members of the community
• To foster or caring community
• Water & sewer
• A revised assessment plan to better reflect the value of homes with no water
• Water
• Small commercial services – no big box retailers
• Boat launch
• Regulate street speeds

(The notes provided here were captured verbatim from note cards filled out by round table participants)