- By Dan Veaner
- Opinions
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I have been interested in this idea of a Village identity since I spoke to Trustee Lynn Leopold about it last November. "Some people who live here don't even realize they live in a village," she said. "They're totally confused. They say 'Oh I thought this is Ithaca, because that's on my address.' But we are a village, and try to behave like a village and treat our village residents as if they belong to us."
I've been thinking about what Moore said for a whole week since I interviewed him last Friday. I also found myself having a conversation with Town Supervisor Steve Farkas about it. He agreed with Moore that the Town has a very strong sense of community, with countless residents volunteering in all aspects of life, a strong school system and a commitment to kids. The Recreation Department and parks and churches also goes a long way toward binding the community.
Farkas said that all you have to do is let people know they are needed and they step up. Recently the Town put out a plea for residents to revitalize the floundering Community Council, through which United Way funding comes to such programs as the Recreation Department and Lansing Youth Services. Within weeks eight new members had joined, with five of them taking a day out of their busy schedules to attend a training session at the United Way.
Leopold is hopeful that the Triphammer revitalization would help create a sense of a village center, and that small things such as flower boxes on the "Welcome to the Village of Lansing" signs and the Village newsletter will help define the community. But will it be enough? Moore said that you need to have many elements like schools, a village center, services that the village provides, parks, places of worship and so on to create the ingredients that ignite a geographical location into a village.
The Village of Lansing was formed to respond to the Pyramid Mall and other development that threatened the quality of resident's life at that time. Since then it has accomplished much, including sewer and water, and it outsources what it can't provide itself. It runs pretty smoothly. But I suppose it will take more than that to turn the Village into a village. There has to be a spark that both defines the municipality as unique in its residents' minds and engages their imaginations so they want to be a part of making it into a cohesive community. Some people, at least, seem to want that. But it won't be easy.
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