It’s February, the month of love. But Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day that local government professionals are showing love to their community, it’s each and every day through small acts such as blogging to the community to keep them in the know and large acts like building a new public library.

These five examples should spark some new ideas for spreading the love to your community in 2016.  

For the Love of Fort Collins

In 2015, the City of Fort Collins took a page out of Peter Kageyama’s book, For the Love of Cities, launching an initiative called ‘For the Love of Fort Collins’. Kageyama visited with the city and its community to discuss what makes cities lovable and why that matters in terms of civic participation. This grassroots campaign was designed to build a vibrant community and local organizations, businesses, and individuals were invited to incorporate ‘For the Love’ into their plans and activities.

Windsor Town Manager Launches Community Blog

Linda Kelly, Windsor Town Manager and ICMA member, created a blog for her community to provide yet another means of connecting with Windsor residents through providing up to date information regarding Town issues. Blog posts have included: El Niño storm preparations, a new virtual suggestions box, the Town’s new texting service, and a schedule of open house events.

The simple blog can be found here: http://windsortownmanager.blogspot.com/

Towns Are Falling in Love with Golf Carts

Golf carts and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) are becoming popular throughout the U.S. and communities, especially those with the boomer generation, and they are loving it! Dozens of communities have outlined schemes to integrate carts and NEVs into their transportation networks, below are a few:

• South of Atlanta, suburban Peachtree City now has 11,000 golf carts for 13,000 households.
• East of Los Angeles, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments is drafting plans for a 45-mile, $100-million path for bikes, pedestrians, and low-speed electric vehicles along the banks of the region’s stormwater culvert, linking eight towns and hundreds of thousands of people.
• In Greenville, South Carolina, residents use NEVs to visit neighbors, go to the farmer’s market, or catch the Greenville Drive, the local minor-league team.
• In The Villages of Central Florida, there are 50,000 golf carts and 90 miles of dedicated golf-cart infrastructure.

A Bike Ride to Build Community Engagement

After reading Peter Kageyama’s influential book, For the Love of Cities, a city councilman from Watsonville City, CA, took it upon himself to create a more emotionally engaged community by making it more bike friendly.

Felipe Hernandez founded Bike Friendly Watsonville, a community group which drew roughly 40 bicyclists to its inaugural ride Saturday morning. The ride included visits to local stores that rewarded deep discounts as well as taught new riders the importance of bike safety.

A “Library for the Future”

Coming in November 2016, the city of Austin, Texas will open its doors to the first “library for the future” in the United States and the second in the world known as The New Central Library. Members of the community will experience:

• Rooms that can be used for classes and workshops as well as large open expanses for community gatherings and events;
• Fresh air and a breathtaking view from the Reading Porches overlooking Shoal Creek and Lady Bird Lake;
• An art gallery that features local and national artists;
• A zero-waste bookstore; and
• Indoor and outdoor dining.

With ideas such as these, your community will feel like it is Valentine’s Day every day.

Share with us! Tell us what you have done for your community to spread the love.