Good on Yolanda Cookson for reporting on yesterday’s Economic Development Town Hall Forum in her blog.

She expresses a portion of her vision for the future in very personal and honest terms:

As a thirty something, I want to be able to go and have dinner at 6:00, then maybe walk around and shop, perhaps do some wine tasting or have a drink at local bar, and check out a band that is not from an era before I was born.

Am I the only one?

I love this vision, and share it!  As a sixty-something, I have even more styles of music to select from in my lifetime!

Here’s more of my vision for the future of our region.

Being a tourist Mecca, Grass Valley should get ready for company by cleaning house, dressing up, preparing some good food and putting some nice music on the stereo.

What does this mean?

Well, we already have lots of terrific food (too many great restaurants to list here) and music (Music in the Mountains, Center for Arts, Celtic Faire, and so much more).

For dressing up and cleaning house, my favorite idea is the Wolf Creek Parkway through downtown Grass Valley. Imagine a green and spacious parkway, featuring pedestrian and bike paths. (Think:  the 25-mile parkway from Pacific Grove through Monterey and Seaside, San Louis Obispo’s Creek Walkway ((“City of San Louis Obispo“)) and the American River Parkway in Sacramento).

In the broadest sense, what makes people want to visit our region is the same thing that makes them want to stay and live here: The nourishing natural beauty and the rich and vibrant culture.

In short, the lifestyle.

What makes it possible for them to stay and live here is at once simpler and more problematic: Jobs!

And for that, here’s the key:

The jobs (the means of staying here) should be integrally linked to the lifestyle (the motive for staying here)!

And that means we need clean, sustainable, hi-tech, energy-efficient industries of the 21st century.