Aligning values to drive change

Many people look at progressive communities from outside, and wonder why their hometown has yet to achieve progressive Real Estate developments. Seattle, Portland, New York, Vancouver to some extent – to name a few – are some North American examples of leading Cities from a planning, sustainability, and innovation standpoint.

Why have these communities been trailblazers? There are many reasons ranging from political mandates to creative class clusters, but when you boil all of the drivers down, you come to one catalyst. Alignment of values.

All those involved in the building of a City – municipal planners, politicians, developers, builders and most importantly the public who will use the built environment, need to share substantially the same need, want, passion to achieve a progressive community. Too much discord will upset the traction of change. Constructive debate is positive but taken too far will sideline progress.

The start of this sort of change begins with users. Families who need a new home. Business owners and their teams who are searching for a location – environment – that fits their corporate culture. Those families and teams need to start the wave of change from within. Align their needs and ask for them when they search for their next home. Demand your needs. We spend the majority of our time in built environments. Offices all day, homes all night. We best love them.