Concord is good. Can we be great?
Everybody in Concord has a certain toughness and tenacity. We are entrepreneurial and strategic. We know how to make it through some very cold winters. We also know the struggle of trying to have an ounce of character, of flavor, of distinct culture, if you will, in a world where the Bostons and New Yorks of the world are the only thing that seem to matter.
We have our struggles, yet we have enormous wealth at our disposal. Concord has sensible and balanced general services. We have an incredible standard of skilled craftsmen that stands head and shoulders over other places. We have incredible intellectual capital and places to exercise it with our law schools and scholars, our coffee shops and meeting spaces. We also have solvable, yet uncomfortable-to-discuss problems that we can solve economically and quickly. For instance, to solve the fact that some locations in Concord’s downtown smell from public urination, strategically-placed, cheap, zoning-varianced urinals can go discretely near businesses that would benefit from the improvement.
My challenge is this: let’s start conversations. Find an acquaintance and meet to chat about something that annoys you here. Think about small problems and solid solutions. Send your thoughts to the Monitor. Read other people’s writing. If someone else talks about a need that you can meet, find the author and grab coffee together! Concord, if we can come together and combine our strengths, I know our future can go from fine to a shining example for others of an exemplary place.