Someone once said that they thought our motto, “Darien, A Nice Place to Live,” was rather corny; they felt that compared to other towns and cities it did nothing to really identify the qualities of life within our city. My answer to that characterization is that individual grossly underestimates how well that saying actually describes every element of our city.
Our city epitomizes a volunteer spirit not found in every municipality; we have a community where our service and social groups, whether individually or together provide programs and activities that work to enhance the lives of all of our residents. Our July 4 th Parade, Halloween Party, Food Basket Program, Tree Lighting among other activities are each organized and run by various community groups, and this does not include what is done by the city, the chamber, businesses, our park district and our local churches. If there is a need in our community, there is a group that will work to fill that need.
Let’s talk about our public safety and our municipal services. Find a community where the public demonstrates the respect shown to our police officers, who put themselves in harm’s way in order to provide Darien residents with a safe living environment. Find a community where you can go out and feel as safe as you do in Darien. What about our public works staff; drive through various communities during the winter, and tell me if you can find one with better snow plowing services than Darien. During the spring and summer months, examine our medians along 75th and observe the beautiful plantings that add color and beauty to our streetscape, along with the visual improvements at the intersection of Cass and Plainfield Roads, that is the work of our Public Works Department.
I can go on; our churches, aforementioned park district, business community, access to major highways, along with a city government that is transparent and works to serve the residents in Darien within a well-developed city budget, all work to serve our community. Our city’s focus is on you, our residents, and in turn you add, through your dedication to our city, to making Darien a nice place to live.
Through my most recent family loss, your phone calls, emails, sympathy cards and your presence worked to lessen an unbearable grief. The love expressed by this community to my family spoke volumes as to what a quality living environment really is; it is a community of people who look out for one another and go to the aid of their neighbor when there is a need. You, our residents provide the best rationale for our motto; “Darien…A Nice Place to Live.”