Team envisions Sisters' ideal future

The Sisters Community Action Team has an idea of what Sisters will look like in 20 years if the "status quo" is maintained. The team also has a vision of what an ideal Sisters community could be.

The team, formed under terms of a grant from the U.S. Forest Service that provides funds for community planning, has developed a "probable scenario" that projects what the greater Sisters community will be like if things go on as they are today.

For the team, "Sisters" means the Sisters School District, excluding Black Butte Ranch.

Under the team's probable scenario, Sisters will look more like a bedroom community to Bend and Redmond. Water quality will deteriorate; there will be less open space; traffic problems will increase.

Loss of fish and wildlife habitat will contribute to a negative impact on wildlife. There will be less affordable housing and some increase in school-age children. The population will be more affluent and older and less diverse. Increased polarization on issues will lead to fewer qualified persons willing to participate in problem solving.

Urban sprawl will lead to higher costs of services. A recreation district will exist and a community center will be built.

Police and fire service will be comparable to today in terms of a percentage of available personnel. There will be more medical services, a senior care center and a high-tech library.

The team envisions a traffic bypass or couplet in the city limits. They foresee deteriorating area roads with potholes and disrepair, but no real changes in local road alignment.

C.A.T. members concurred that in a probable scenario the greater Sisters area would have more seasonal business, more home-based businesses, and lack of a business infrastructure.

Reaching consensus is not easy for the C.A.T. members. In fact, not all team members agree on every aspect of the envisioned scenarios.

The team is diverse, representing personal interests from no-growth activists to developers. But each volunteer member has been asked to try to set aside personal beliefs to look at the future of the Sisters area in light of what might be best for the community as a whole, not just what he or she might desire.

The team's vision of a probable future appears grim. But the team is also working on a "preferred scenario," under which planning and community vision will offer a better future.

In a "preferred scenario," the quality of life in the Sisters of the future would include (in part) good air, good water, affordable housing, more medical services, a rich cultural environment, and a restructured government that would include those persons presently outside the city limits.

Human resources in Sisters would include an educated and talented work force, an expanded COCC presence, and stable funding for both the library and the Sisters School District. A recreation district would exist, and the community as a whole would have a commitment to a high level of education.

In that community - as envisioned by the C.A.T. - Sisters would have a sewer system, as well as a convention center, community center, and a performing arts center. Not only would traffic problems be solved, but pedestrians would be assured safe access to the town. Transportation to other areas would be improved, and a bike path network would service the community.

The team still has to figure out how to get to that brighter future.

That work will continue at team meetings, scheduled every three weeks at 6 p.m. at Sisters High School. Meetings are open to the public, and community involvement is encouraged.

The next session is Wednesday, March 18.