In the past four years, our city's CBD has been transformed by private enterprise singing in tune to people who love better food and better wine. And by those who prefer social engagement amid serenity rather than doof doof beats.

Ballarat continues to emerge as a health and education mecca. We entice event-goers and history buffs in greater numbers than ever.

A rapidly growing city which is the capital of western Victoria both in spirit and in service. We are open and welcoming.

However, four years ago, the Civic Hall stood, as it does today, not unloved but unused; the saleyards have not moved; and the Ballarat West Employment Zone still has potential on paper but little action on the ground.

Retaining and encouraging our young people remains an unwanted challenge; the want to service our more experienced residents is outstripped by demand.

The number of questions outstrip answers for the marginalised in our community, not because we don't want help but because it's hard to get help - and funding - which is supported and sustainable for those who have no home, for those who are caught in the ice scourge and for those struggling to make ends meet.

The thing that strikes me most when balancing an assessment of our city is the lack of definition of Ballarat's future.

Our city doesn't have an over-arching goal. Show me the ultimate ambitious and visionary goal for which our city strives and can align and I will show you a contented resident.

In the past four years, there is one space in which Ballarat has been defined - our attitude to family violence, and more specifically, violence against women.

We remain disgusted by the rates on family violence in our community. In the same breath, however, we are heartened and encouraged.

No longer are the insidious crimes associated with the traditions of society hidden by the media or in our workplaces or sporting clubs.

There has been tremendous work undertaken - by so many former lone voices - in Ballarat that our city has become a beacon for tackling not only the issue of violence itself but the ingrained values which provoke it.

We now have a platform to stand on. Ballarat can be Australia's number one destination for families; a city which has a reputation not for enforcing community safety but for making safety a prerequisite; a city where every resident makes a pledge not to be silent, not to be violent; a city where companies and individuals will invest not because of government incentives but because the best people and cultures add the greatest value to the bottom line.

Australia's White Ribbon capital. 

Australia's centre for pledges - and action - against violence.

Australia's equal city.

That's a vision which costs little. It's a vision which cannot be held up by the machinations of government. It's a vision which can define Ballarat's future.

This is my final Seven Days as editor of The Courier, a role I took on early in 2011. Thank you to readers and contributors during the past four years - it has been a pleasure to be of service.

- Andrew Eales