COMMENT: Waiting for magic to happen with the elementary school site search

comment by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott:

Decorah is a magical place to live.  We have a great quality of life—it's easy to get to work, recreational activities are right on our doorstep and it's easy to get to a concert or some other cultural offering.

We are regularly named to "best of" lists.  Smithsonian Magazine named Decorah one of "America's 20 Best Small Towns." "Best Choice Reviews" named Decorah as having the #30 "Best Small Town Downtown."  www.livability.com picked Decorah as the #49 top small town nationwide.  www.cheapism.com picked Dunning Springs as the best waterfall in Iowa.   www.niche.com named Decorah MIddle School #2, Decorah School District #4 and Decorah HighSchool #7 in the entire state of Iowa.  "Business Insider" named Decorah #10 on its list of "Best College Towns in America"—above both Iowa City and Chapel Hill.

Sometimes, however, all this success leads us to believe good things will magically happen to us.  We expect the best—which can be a good trait, but which can also keep us from wanting to compromise.

I think we see that playing out in our current search for a location for a new elementary school in Decorah.  We want a location that's close to town, doesn't have traffic problems, has plenty of room for athletic areas and doesn't disrupt any of the other facilities we use.

But such a location doesn't exist.  A location that's close to town is also in the middle of traffic problems.  A location that's on the edge of town and has plenty of space will require some effort to get to.

The question is not whether a perfect location exists—it doesn't—but what qualities are most important to the community for a new elementary school.  Should it be close to downtown—even if that mean traffic problems?  Should it be at a site on the edge of town that has plenty of space for facilities—even though it won't be as convenient to get to?

We have come to expect everything to work out well in Decorah.  The search for a new location for an elementary school can workout well—but we need to figure out which qualities are the most important and stop insisting that a location checks off every box on our list.