Our city has so much to offer. From Parks and Recreation offerings to exciting businesses and the library, it’s difficult to know where to start, or where best to find community. The City should partner with local organizations and businesses to communicate to new business owners, students, and residents, creating a lasting first impression of warmth and welcoming. Beginning by more prominently placing guides for visitors and new residents on city sites and within city communications, and exploring ways to identify new residents and partner with the Chamber of Commerce to bring back welcome baskets, and eventually welcoming events in the city, we can continue to welcome newcomers.

We can build out existing programs to provide increased access to materials in other languages, partnerships for mixed language events, and outreach that maximizes accessibility for all people, regardless of their familiarity with English. We should pursue an audit of these services or a survey of community members who primarily speak languages other than English to determine the strengths and gaps of the current system in which translation is available upon request, and determine if there are ways to effectively reduce barriers without a spike in cost to the city.

Our community is filled with incredible people. But for those who experience barriers to meeting people, such as transportation, poor internet, low income, language barriers, and more, it can still be a lonely place. Our Library and Parks and Recreation services already do a great job of this, but we should continue to explore opportunities to target specific groups who feel less connected to Lake Oswego, such as empty nesters, new residents, or others who feel isolated. By working diligently to increase accessibility in all areas, while building out programs specifically designed to increase community connection, especially with aging populations, we can build a community of friends. 

Lake Oswego has a long history of racism and exclusion.  By continuing to provide education on these harms through community events, expanding acknowledgement of specific acts, and creating pathways and programming to learn about the importance of diversity and how to move forward with kindness and openness to all communities, we can continue to build a more accepting Lake Oswego.

In recent years, city events have been aglow with culture and joy. Continuing this trend, we should support every opportunity to uplift different cultures through existing events, library partnerships, and continued work with community organizations. For groups who are currently not celebrated in city-wide events, we should explore ways to show up as a city to support other celebrations and collaborate with outside groups working to elevate their voices. We should continue to work to foster an environment where cultural businesses are interested in starting locations here, while we continue to support those who come in from out of town to celebrate their culture with us at special events.

Lake Oswego has great forums for feedback on specific city council matters and through boards and commissions. As we create a system that encourages participation from all community members, we must reduce barriers to contributing to city conversations. We should foster an environment that encourages participation from all people, whether emails or calls or continuous service on city boards and commissions. We should consider more listening sessions and working with community organizations to hear the concerns of people who have traditionally been left behind.