Imagine If We Built Our Communities Like We Build Christmas Villages?

It's that time of year again when people around the world become 'amateur city planners' and design their own miniature Christmas/Winter Villages (Welcome, to Mattland). We meticulously arrange the buildings, activity centres, transportation systems and people in just the right way to create a place where we think people would want to stick around. We're placemaking.

So why is it that when we build our own communities, we don't apply the same values?

• Would you build a Village with lots of parking lots and busy streets?
• Would you build a Village where it is unsafe for people to walk outside?
• Would you build a Village with walls?
• Would you build a Village that is car-centric with limited transit and bicycle options?
• Would you build a Village without any local shopping and restaurants?

Of course you wouldn't. Your Village is a place where people feel happy and safe. A place where people can be together.

So for 2016, before we make any decisions that impact our communities, perhaps we should first ask ourselves: Is this something we would include in our own Christmas/Winter Village?

Merry Christmas from the Trainboat Family! And thanks to all those people out there who are working their tails off to make our world a better place!