I am a bit of a civics geek. I enjoy the political process so I have been going to some village meeting to get the scoop on my new community I live in. Saturday, it was about 3 degrees, but I still walked over to the Village meeting–it is only a five minute walk. I thought it was more of an informal meeting so I did not arrive at the starting time. They were in the middle of a Powerpoint presentation detailing the changes they will be making to the central business district. These future changes will help bring in more businesses and help keep our train station in the place that it is. These factors alone will dramatically help our property value. We are already 5 minutes from the train and central business district (well, it is a small town central business district). Because we are some of the closes houses to this area, and this area will become a more popular area we will gain from this significantly. Currently, there are only a few businesses down there but there are plans for a grocery store and other conveniences so when we go to the train in the morning or when we return from work at night we can easily get some chores done and not have to drive 10-15 minutes somewhere to do it.
I also spoke to a Trustee of the Village about some issues that affect my wife and me. This was very rewarding because I received direct answers on what is currently being done to address my concerns. In the past I have written to Congressmen and women only to receive general answers. I am even more satisfied with our choice of towns because it looks as if we are getting in on the ground floor of something really good for the community. And within the next several years many of these projects should be finished while others are in progress.