We want your feedback! This page is a space for residents and stakeholders to share ideas, ask questions, and provide constructive input on the update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Please read the background information and have your say in the space at the bottom of the page. We welcome your input!
Jasper is a community that has worked hard over many decades to build a unique cultural identify and a tightknit community fabric. There has been a very strong focus on families, and this is reflected in the predominance of single-family homes in the community. However, the community dynamics and makeup are changing. As the population has grown, it has become more ethnically diverse and older. This set of dynamics and trends suggest that the community will change significantly in the coming years, with new people and new voices beginning to more strongly influence local values and the community fabric. The community input to date has revealed that many people think the community needs to work harder to become more adaptable, inclusive and open to new ideas.
The ‘Importance of Community Fabric’ pillar focuses on strengthening a vibrant community. This will help maintain the energy to continue to improve and develop the community. Community connection is very important in Jasper, and this pillar will help explore ways to build these internal connections and strengthen the sense of community.
Knowing that there is a wide range of views on Community Fabric, we want to hear your comments about the future of Jasper, Indiana.
For more information about the Jasper Comprehensive Plan Project, please contact:
Becki Moorman
Community Development & Planning
City of Jasper
Jasper City Hall
610 Main Street
Jasper, IN 47547-0029
[email protected]
Courtney Powell, AICP
Urban and Community Planning Manager
WGI, Inc.
1201 Wilson Boulevard, 27th Floor
Arlington, VA 22209
571-438-9436
[email protected]
David Beurle
CEO, Future iQ
P.O. Box 24687
Minneapolis, MN 55424
612-757-9190
[email protected]
Future iQ® provides customized research and planning services to governments, communities, corporations and industry groups. Please contact us to discuss our services.
11 Comments
Thank you for your participation in the City of Jasper Comprehensive Plan! We look forward to your input and the discussion to follow on how we can make the Community Fabric Pillar representative of the community’s vision of the future.
This is a major point to getting younger generations to want to come here.
One of Jasper’s key challenges for the future is attracting more younger adults and families to the community to fill a ‘missing demographic’ of people in their twenties, thirties and forties. Town houses, restaurants, daycare. These things are needed to accomplish younger generations. They don’t necessarily want to own a house and have the constant maintenance that goes with it. They want to be out and about. The survey pointed out a lot of positives and needs. Thanks.
Thanks for joining in, Joe! You are definitely right. There are growing segments who want less to maintain and more free to experience all that there is to offer. Both younger and older demographics.
Size matters. If a town grows too big, then it loses the qualities that make it attractive. Jasper is getting close to outgrowing its livability. As someone who has seen this happen up close in other places–including Bloomington, and Lexington Kentucky, I can assure you that this is not pleasant to watch. One of the elephants in the living room of the entire world is a population problem. No one likes to talk about it. Because this is a rural area, a good part of its charm is that sense of being surrounded by the natural world. Dubois County has many small towns dotted through with large swaths of fields in all directions. In addition, plenty of wooded acreage remains and Patoka Lake, Lincoln State Park, and small lakes like the Conservation Club, Huntingburg Lake, Beaver Lake , along with the River, have defined this area since the first humans were here. A good part of the success of all the small towns is dependent on the the rural quality of the region. There are plenty of cities everywhere. But small towns only stay small when too many people move in. That means more problems.
A thriving local economy runs on foot traffic, not just parking spaces. While Jasper is currently a heavy-driving community built around the steering wheel, we need to evolve to attract young families who will sustain us for generations. To truly spin the flywheel of our local economy, our newly identified residential growth areas need to be connected to local businesses and community hubs by short, non-car travel routes. We don’t need to force anyone to give up their cars, but making a safe walk or bike ride a viable option (rather than an impossible hurdle) is one way to build a vibrant, tight-knit fabric the next generation is looking for.
Love this! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on connectivity! I completely agree. I would love options to bike or walk into Jasper from a west side neighborhood or have a trail close by to use.
The charm of a small community is the connection of the residents and caring for each other. That is harder and harder to do as a city gets bigger. We need to encourage people to get INVOLVED with their community. There are so many opportunities for involvement here in Jasper and it should not be a competition between various groups, but all groups working together for the betterment of the quality of life. Religious (Churches), Schools, Associations, Organizations, etc. need to work together more with less competition and more “for the good”.
We need BETTER centralized communications resources in today’s modern world. Getting the word out has beome more difficult than ever with fragmented and AI driven targeting. We need to stay focused on how we can keep the small town “one for all” and “all for one” culture as we break down ethnic and demographic differences. Adopt a “Better Together” attitude.
Thank you for the opportunity for the community to provide feedback. It’s evident that a lot of work has already gone into this. I’d like to provide some comments on the culture of Jasper, from the perspective of a newcomer.
Jasper is an exceptional town. The cultural values of Jasper such as a strong work ethic, honesty and trustworthiness, education, family values, discipline and entrepreneurship are evident in the outcomes it produces. Jasper ranks highly in economic diversity for its size, low unemployment, academic achievement, intact families, and low crime.
Many long-time residents take Jasper’s exceptionalism for granted, especially if they haven’t lived elsewhere recently. America has changed, and Jasper is the exception now, not the rule. Much of rural America is hollowed out, suffering from a lack of jobs, heavy public spending burdens, outmigration and/or addiction. Suburbs are economic zones without any sense of community or rootedness. They have become transient communities. The suburbs have become places where residents live at specific phases of their careers and experience high lifetime migration. Cities attract the youth with their vibrancy, but the high costs, high crime, and poor services contribute to making them unattractive places to start and raise a family. The fertility rate is the lowest in the cities and children have become uncommon sights.
For these reasons, I strongly disagree with The Jasper Community Vision Report’s description of “The Jasper Way” as the least desired future. “The Jasper Way” is what has made Jasper exceptional in the first place and should be something the community leans into, not rejects. It’s a large part of what attracted me to Jasper in the first place.
What if we stopped prosecuting Marijuana?
Indy, Bloomington have both done this. Why do we let the Doctors and Politicians get away with it. Let us all be free.
How might we leverage the large and diverse companies that call Jasper their headquarters home? They have been successful in knitting together their own organizations across distances, perspectives, demographics, and cultures. The city could consider their best practices, some of which include robust top down communications, a clear set of guiding principles & values, ways to celebrate success (and a definition of what success looks like), and a commitment of engagement across all. Jasper cannot be “all things to all people”. We need a defined identity and culture that attracts and retains the people that align with it. When aligned, people are engaged.
Very well put, Lonnie. We have best practices all around us. Generations change and any business that doesn’t recognize that, usually suffers hardship. Being open minded and flexible allows communities to pivot and adjust to the most important things. Careers are everchanging and with the advancement of technology and AI, this doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. How are we going to attract those businesses that fill in the gaps?