About The FOCUS Kingston Steering Committee
Shortly after the 1998 amalgamation, the first Council of the "New City of Kingston" initiated a strategic planning process in full consultation with the community in order to construct a 10-year road map charting our courses to our destinations.
To date, this planning process has included the contribution and participation of over one thousand individual members of the Kingston community, community volunteer organizations, community agencies and staff of the municipal Corporation.
As part of the plan development Kingstonians were asked how they would like to see Kingston in the future. People were asked to identify the top two or three things they would consider when selecting a great place to live. A number of decisive factors were identified including, public safety, environmental responsibility, cultural attractions, recreational events, affordable housing, social programs that ensure the well being of all citizens, local history and traditions, a vibrant downtown, open space with lush parks, well maintained infrastructure, a reliable public transit system and responsible development.
These important community characteristics influence the "Quality of Life" for the residents of the community. Significantly, municipal government may affect the outcome of virtually all of these characteristics and thereby have a positive impact on the Quality of Life of our residents. Quality of Life has many meanings. For our purposes, a community with a good Quality of Life is one that achieves a balance amongst the social, natural (environmental) and economic indicators of community well-being. To achieve this, we determined that it was essential for government and the community to work closely together. These principles became the foundation of the "FOCUS Kingston Community Plan."
The development of this Community Plan therefore, has been a joint effort between the City of Kingston and the community at-large. The Community Plan has been created to help all of us focus our energies and resources to ensure Kingston is truly, "a place where History and Innovation thrive."
