EDH 2025 Plan_Original_Dec 05 Final

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Preface The document that follows serves several purposes. It is a plan written for Downtown Hilo by the community. It is a story about an organic, spontaneous community visioning process. It is a model for other communities to follow when conducting their own visioning process. And it is the platform from which implementation of the Living Action Plan will begin. Part One contains the story. This is the step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts of workshop development, committee meetings, and planning activities, all the way to development of an implementation committee. Part One ends with the lessons learned during this 15-month process and some final words by Steering Committee Leadership. Part Two contains the Community-Based Vision and Living Action Plan. All of the ideas in this section belong to the Community. The story, the process of EnVision Downtown Hilo 2025, is just as important as the Plan itself. The process was organic, fluid, and able to adapt to changes in circumstances. This characteristic is what makes the plan a Living Plan. This plan pays homage to all the hard work of previous community leaders and brings their work back into relevance. This plan recognizes the community's collective obligation to be a steward not only of its own neighborhood, but of nearby neighbors including the natural resources on which everyone depends. Writing a vision for a land of superlatives is nearly impossible. There is an ineffable quality to Hilo that can be conveyed only through experience. On the neighbor islands when people meet someone from Hilo, they immediately smile and pause. Their countenance becomes contemplative, peaceful; they may sigh. A common verbal response is "I love Hilo. My grandmother lives there, and I always enjoyed visiting as a kid." Of course, they may be describing Pepeekeo or Kaumana or Keaukaha, but when they think "Hilo" the image of Hilo Town—Downtown Hilo—is what they see. Downtown Hilo is the very heart of Hilo; and all the citizens of Hawaii want to see the very best for their beloved icon of Hawaii-the-way-it-used-to-be. It is Hawaii the way it should be. The citizens of Hawaii Island have spoken and drafted a very straightforward vision and pragmatic action plan. Folks here have a hard time asking for anything, and they are certainly not greedy. ,Just please keep their water, land, and air clean. Keep their streets safe and attractive. Keep their history and traditions alive—and maintain those traditions as the foundation of the community. Let them be free to make a living and worship as they will. Keep their children safe, teach them, and cherish them. Honor their senior citizens and respect their wisdom. And please listen to them. Respect is what this vision is all about. And it is respectfully submitted by the people of Hawaii.