Many of the aspects of community spirit are of social, physical and environmental character.

Community spirit is a poetic side of our community's nature. The notion of the “walkable community” is expressive of an element of Shorewood's social poetic qualities. It calls to mind, safety, security and peacefulness--indications that we are the street and the street is ours. The idea takes us away from the reality of noisy and fast moving traffic.

“Walkable community” in concept, excludes cars rushing through the heart of our village, as their very presence creates an adverse environment that reduces the safety and security of our “walkable community.”

Therefore, it is not the Department of Transportation nor their traffic engineering consultants who should be planning our intersection at Capitol and Oakland. This planning and design requires a village designer who understands community spirit.

Our river and lake settings and even our “village” parks require a village designer with this spirit and understanding. Our village requires a designer with the spirit of village, with the knowledge of what a “walkable community means,” with the spirit of community that reflects our community spirit, as well as our community base.

Community base is the opposing balance to tax base. Both are of equal importance. We cannot exclude one from the other. Both are equal components of the concept of community.

Our village designer should be designing our main intersection, the replacement of the former railroad bridge that crosses over Capitol and our river setting nearby, all in the spirit of Shorewood, in the poetic spirit of the village.