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 What’s the Big Idea?
by Tom Campbell
September 25, 2008
You have to hand it to those folks in the Capital City. They’ve got moxie. Fresh on the heels of a brand new 300 million dollar convention center and major downtown revitalization, this city still has big dreams. This spring, residents of all ages gathered to share their Big Ideas for the future of Raleigh. Admittedly, many of them will never go anywhere, but some of them are imaginative and stimulating, worthy of fleshing out.
In the publication of Raleigh’s Big Ideas was a quote from Daniel Patrick Burnham, an influential architect and city planner from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He said, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.”
Our state has had been blessed through our history to have had some true visionaries, men and women who called us into rising above the status quo, to be and become more than we are. Without them we wouldn’t have a university system, statewide public schools, a road network or Research Triangle Park. All these and others were “big ideas” at the time they were first proposed. Remember the doubters and naysayers when President John Kennedy advanced the big idea to put a man on the moon within ten years?
We don’t spend much time dreaming these days. It isn’t practical. Daily concerns occupy too much time. Besides, resources are so scarce we can’t meet today’s needs, much less those for the future. But we need those dreamers today, painting us a picture of where we can go and what we can become, inspiring us to stretch and challenging us to have big ambitious goals.
These dreamers don’t have to be politicians, government employees or even trained professionals. Thomas Edison wasn’t, neither was Henry Ford. They were people like you and me with a dream.
What are our Big Ideas for North Carolina? Here is a challenge to anyone reading this. Spend some time thinking about what our state should be like in ten, twenty, or even fifty years. Put that idea to paper and send it in either using traditional mail or by e-mail, which, by the way, was once somebody’s big idea.
We will collect them and if the quantity and quality justifies we will print them and make them available. Perhaps these Big Ideas will stimulate some honest public debate and consideration. Who knows? North Carolina’s future may get started right here, right now by you.
Mail your big ideas to NC SPIN, 851 Washington Street, Raleigh, NC 27065. Or e-mail them to Bigideas@ncspin.com .
If you love North Carolina and care about our future, why not spend a few moments dreaming big? One thing is sure: we can’t achieve a dream we don’t have. And we won’t have a dream if dreamers don’t come forward. Let’s see if we can “stir” some blood, not forgetting to “aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.” What’s the Big Idea? |
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