As a 40-year resident of Norman, I remember the civic pride that used to be part of this town. We had the University of Oklahoma, an economy that always seemed to be strong, a healthy arts community, and an engaged community spirit.

We bragged about our great schools, great churches, great parks and how great a place Norman was to raise kids. I used to think, if I’m going to live in Oklahoma, Norman is where I want to be.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking that. Maybe it’s because of MAPS and watching what Oklahoma City has done to spark its renaissance, and maybe it’s from seeing similar resurrections in Tulsa, Edmond, and Moore.

In comparison, Norman has stood on the sidelines, clinging to memories of being a showcase community in a flyover state.

So, with all that background, imagine the reaction when the One Norman Visioning Task Force sat down for the first time on Wednesday to hear our poverty rate is higher than the state average, the national average, and higher than many of our peer cities. It wasn’t pleasant to see that our household income lags far behind neighboring communities.

Norman is in the middle of the pack on other benchmarks as well, such as people living without health insurance, diversity, early childhood education and percentage of people with a high school diploma. Crime spiked in 2012, and there has been no significant decline in a decade.

The task force represents a cross section of our community, with age groups, genders, wards, races and socioeconomic status represented equally. There are Norman city council members on the task force as well as University of Oklahoma faculty, business people, nonprofit professionals, government workers, teachers, and the list goes on.

Did everyone agree? No. Was there emotion? Yes. Did everyone get along? Absolutely. The room was filled with frustration and disappointment along with hope and optimism. And, from what I can tell, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Growth doesn’t happen when we are in our comfort zones, says Crystal Romanyszyn, Norman Economic Development Coalition senior vice president and task force coordinator.

Romanyszyn and NEDC President Lawrence McKinney are serious about finding a vision and a brand to guide Norman for the next two decades, and sometimes the process comes with the pain of seeing how much your community must grow.

And the best way to make things better is for the community to come together to talk through the issues in an open, transparent way. Wednesday’s discussion was the first of four sessions scheduled this month and it started that process with the benchmarks that will guide the city toward a more vibrant future, Romanyszyn says.

All the commentary from Wednesday’s task force session is being recorded for inclusion in the final report, which will be published and shared with the entire community once all the meetings are over.

Norman’s largest stakeholder organizations, such as the City of Norman, OU, Norman Regional Health Systems, Cleveland County government, and the Moore Norman Technology Center will have a role to play as well. They will be the change agents, selecting the issues they can address and finding ways to improve them.

And every two years, One Norman will come together for a town hall to review our benchmarks to measure progress.

The fact is that One Norman is an investment in our community’s future.

But it’s also a source of hope for today. And maybe, if we work together, we will see Norman’s special spirit find its way home again.