I’d like to ask you a question about the place where you live.
If I came to visit you, what would be my first impression of your town or city? Would it make me want to live there? What about shop or invest there? Retire there?
It’s very difficult, isn’t it?
Yesterday, I was part of a volunteer visiting team who made an incognito, “secret shopper” style visit to the Town of Huntsville about two hours north of us. We did this as part of a First Impressions Community Exchange initiative offered as a tool to municipalities by the provincial government. The visiting team from Huntsville have already come and gone from their visit to Collingwood some time ago.
An excerpt from the website says, “First Impressions Community Exchange is a structured process that reveals the first impression a community conveys to outsiders, including tourists, potential investors and retirees. It offers a fresh perspective on the community’s appearance, services and infrastructure and helps communities learn about their strengths and shortcomings. The knowledge gained through a First Impressions Community Exchange can be the basis for positive community action, focused on downtown revitalization, tourism development, investment attraction, quality service improvement, or broader community strategic planning efforts.”
I think this is a fantastic initiative and it’s great to see that our community has chosen to participate in such a worthwhile project. It will be enlightening to hear the report from the Huntsville group about their first impressions of our area and, we’re looking forward to sharing our thoughts with them.
Chris just handed me this perfect quote from Rabbie Burns:
“O wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel’s as ithers see us!”
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