"Small town character" is an often used phrase, but the City Council removed it from their core values because the phase is not clearly defined and means different things to different people. I propose we conduct a community survey exercise to develop a consensus driven definition of "small town character" and its most important qualities, and to identify what the City might do better to preserve (or restore) small town character. This voluntary survey can be done inexpensively with Survey Monkey on the City's website.
In addition to involving more people in the General Plan process, this survey might unearthing some good suggestions of what the City should do differently.
{This the same idea I suggested for things we can do in the short-term, so double credit for idea submission should not be given.}