I would like to add some public parks to Ward 3. I would like to do this because of the industrial activity in that ward. I believe that adding public parks will create a space where people can interact and get exercise. Additionally, having public parks would offset the lack of green space that comes with industrial activity. I think that having a balance in each ward is important. I also see the public park as a contact zone, which might be helpful for sharing views because I see that ward 3 is politically lopsided.
I have a proposition to all the wards, except ward 2. I understand that each ward has their own political views but this proposition affects the wards. My idea is to place elementary schools in each ward or most wards if there are not enough people. Yes, I understand that is going to cost a lot of money but I think this could bring the community together as a whole. My hometown did the same thing. We had 4 elementary schools and everyone was assigned to an elementary school depending on where you live. They were never distinguished and marked areas but the areas normally consisted of just the neighborhoods surrounding or around the schools. This made tiny communities within the community of the entire town and let us kids make friends with kids geographically close to us. All four elementary schools combined together when we all went to middle school and got to know everyone from the other schools too. Having those tiny communities helped a lot of people find their life-long friends as many people from my town are still close to those they went to elementary school with. Also, meeting more people in middle school lets us first discover who we are in elementary school and then looking for people who will benefit us as we are growing up and moving onto bigger and better things. I’m not sure if my idea will completely work because it all depends on how many children are located in Ralston but I recommend this system since it worked for my hometown and personally I found it beneficial to my social life.
Focusing on Ward 4, I think that this would be a good location to develop a non-profit summer reading and writing program. Since Ward 4 is a home to two schools in Ralston, I thought it would be a good idea to set up a summer reading and writing program that introduces people to new forms of literature and writing in the community. It will also provide the area with more things to do and participate in. The program will provide free sessions throughout the summer, reading books and writing their own work at their own paces, working with teacher and peer volunteers to help them achieve their goals. The program will be welcome to everyone in the community, offering children and adult sessions.
I believe a contribution to the community is desperately needed in Ward 1. According to the document “A Structural Look at Ralston” it is said that Ward 1’s Vitality is rated 2 “Not much happens” and neighborliness is rated 1 “isolated and unavailable”. While I understand that the community of people who live in that ward are mostly rich and wealthy and probably would rather not be spending time with anyone else hence the reason nothing happens, but even just a little something other than a golf course, which takes up majority of the ward itself, to get people to interact with each other in the ward or even to invite people from other wards into the area would be nice. Something like a park with a playground and fountain maybe as a place where people can come and have fun. As I said it doesn’t have to be used just by the people in the ward. A discussion between the people living in the ward will definitely be needed seeing as this is the place they live and if it is unwanted then alternatives can be created. This would be an example of a built environment as well as contact zones. There is a lack of contact zones in ward 1, the golf course, country club, and the living arrangements being the only places that are built environments and/or contact zones. The creation of a park would definitely be a contact zone seeing as Ward 1 is where the wealthy live, and if people from other wards come to visit this park people of different backgrounds and social classes would have to interact.
One thing that I noticed was missing from Ralston was a public library. This would be best built in either wards 2 or 4. Although, I think the library would be a good addition to any ward in the town but is probably most fitting for 2 or 4. They seem to be the least suburban and both seem to be significant areas of contact within the community, meaning having a library in one of those wards might be more beneficial to the library’s use. I actually think this is less useful for particular wards but is more useful for the overall community. A library provides an easy access, quiet community center that would be open to everyone in town. While a lot of similar community spaces may already exist, some of them, such as the country club, are likely completely locked to nonmembers. A library would be much more inclusive than something like that. It creates another area of contact and another use for social capital, which would always be a welcome addition to any city.
For my second contribution I would recommend building a public dog park. More specifically I would recommend building it in Ralston’s first ward. This would help with multiple issues that community members have with this area, as stated in the survey of Ralston residents, as well as bring together people who may not have interacted before by means of a shared interest: dogs. By building it here it would allow for easy access to the older residents that live in the higher end homes while still being reachable by most people throughout Ralston.It would bring people to this area as there would now be something to do and a reason to visit.Finally, the first ward of Ralston has issues with economic disparity, in that the majority of people who spend time here are the wealthier residents who have homes in this area. But this dog park would help reduce that disparity by providing a free place to enjoy that anyone, no matter their income or current wealth, can visit. This would create a fantastic contact zone between the richer and poorer residents of Ralston as they are able to come together in a shared space and bond over their mutual love of their pet dogs.
When trying to think about more addition Ralston could use to the quality of life of its residents, I looked to what my own town has that I personally enjoy that Ralston does not. One of these things that I noticed that Ralston was lacking is a community run movie theater. This would act as a contact zone for the residents of Ralston and would probably sit in Ward 2 among the other attractions that the community has to offer. It makes sense to make a Movie theater of all things in Ralston because it’s a place people can go on days where maybe the weather is not looking so nice where they can run into people they may know that have a common interest in the same type of movie. This would create another way to help foster relationships within the community, which is one of the things Ralston is all about.
Public amenities, such as buildings, parks, or other infrastructural improvements: Include an image (you can find an image and pretend that it is an image of the community amenity, or you can design one) along with a brief explanation of how this amenity will improve the quality of life in Ralston.Include in your description an explanation for why this makes sense for Ralston—that is, how it aligns with Ralston’s community ways as you understand them or challenges them in a way that you think should be challenged.
A public library is a good amenity that helps the citizens of Ralston have another way of building up the community. In my community people seem to value helping children to learn to love reading and learning new things. In order to fully optimize the recreation a good location will be for the public library to be placed into Ward 3. I find that Ward 3 is between both wards, namely Ward and Ward 4, that already have schools located with them. The library can act as a subtle community center because the it can as way for group to quietly study topics, take up the role of being child daycare, and just entertainment.
I feel like maybe something like a small hiking park would be nice, or some type of educational park. Hiking is pretty prominent here so it makes sense that a large portion of people probably want to learn how to safely climb, or what plants are edible and what plants are deadly. There could be some edible flora grown throughout the park and smaller safer trails for smaller kids to be able to go on. The park itself wouldn’t be too big and have more of a jungle gym feel. When connecting to the wards it’d be something for everyone to enjoy. Vermont is filled with nature and the more people know the better. It could provide small rock formations to climb on and they could try and have little signs near every area that has edible plants so that way people know what to do when they see them.
My second contribution to the community of Ralston comes in the form of city development. As the first ward is mainly for people who make less income or make way too much income, it leaves a disparity within wealth and living conditions. My solution comes in form of an Act, being the “Ralston First Ward Development Act” to hire and plot the construction of areas of the other wards to contribute to the growth of the first ward. The goal would be to build more commercial and residential areas to allow more jobs of higher quality, as well as an attraction to the area, to let people who currently have perhaps lesser paying jobs access to more higher-paying ones, be it in the way of actually participating in the construction effort or perhaps getting lucky with the businesses that move into the newly constructed area.
The Goal of the act is to bring attention to the first ward which has been seen as somewhat neglected compared to the other three, with new business, new housing, there will be an attraction for more down the line investments in the ward. This act would come in tandem with the road development ordinance, as combined together it would help bring the 1st ward into the fold with the rest of Ralston
Ralston, Vermont's "Green Island" City 