Story Published: Feb 11, 2010 at 4:50 PM MDT
Story Updated: Feb 11, 2010 at 8:21 PM MDT
"The dynamics have changed tremendously. The population, the number of buildings, the visual aspect has just changed," said City Administrator Craig Sherman.
Growth in Victor has come to a standstill. In 2008, the city sold 75 new housing permits. Last year, they only sold 1.
"Things have died, however. Because of the tremendous amount of growth in the city limits, we are now trying to get caught up," said Sherman.
Sherman says initial growth in Victor was caused by the expensive cost of living in Jackson, Wyoming. But that isn't the case anymore.
"We have kind of come into our own identity... People live in Victor because they want to live in Victor, not because they have to," said Sherman.
Take utilities for example. Victor is now on a central sewer system.
"In 1990 we were still on septic tanks," said Sherman.
Now, a program called Envision Victor hopes to enable residents to shape the city's future identity...starting with this 3-D model of the city.
"As you can see, it's pretty realistic, The goal behind using this program is help people understand how different planning decisions are going to affect the feel of our town," said Dahvi Wilson, the project coordinator for Envision Victor.
Wilson says in the future the city will gather more community input before making changes.
Previously, decisions like installing reverse angle parking down main street were left up to City Council.
"I think what we're realizing in Victor is that change is probably a definite. There's nothing that is going to stop change from happening here. Our goal is to create a way to empower the people here to determine the direction that change will take," said Wilson.
Envision Victor has already sent out surveys to residents asking them how they want Victor to look in the future.
The early feedback shows a community that wants to retain its small town feel while it grows.
If you'd like more information about the project go to www.envisionvictor.com