Home Towns and Economic Development

Last week Auntie wrote about home towns and how they change. I replied that if our home towns didn’t change we probably wouldn’t have left them.

I grew up in an idyllic town. There were old homes and old businesses and old families of several generations. It was a town where as a resident you probably knew just about every resident and most of their phone numbers. You knew every ones name and their relationship to others in town and where their parents worked.

My town was changing as I grew up. It was inevitable because all towns change, but for me there was a limit to the amount of change I would accept. The 90s was an era for great change. The old houses were being destroyed and being replaced by banks and stores. Every month another local historic land mark was destroyed to make way for the new. Our town grew by 25% in a couple years with a population of Condo Dwellers. A simple bicycle ride became a dangerous activity. I had to leave and seek a new area in which to live.

I found Astoria. Back then aside from gas stations the only franchises in town were a McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Safeway, Sentry, and Radio Shack. I could live with that. Astoria had that small town charm and a sense of community that felt welcoming.

When I moved here I supported only local businesses when furnishing my home and filling my cupboard. I bought automobiles and machinery here. I bought books and music and art here. I hired local professionals. I still do most of my business locally.

It is this local shopping that builds communities. I appreciate seeing local businesses thriving.

Oddly there is an internal conflict I have when I have to process the idea of leaving things as they are and economic development. I’m not one who welcomes change, but at the same time I don’t feel I have the right to tell people they can’t do what they want to make a living or even grotesque profits from their investments. My former town was in an economic boom when I left.

I was at a party recently, really I was, no lie. There were people there who were talking about economic development and about the benefits of increasing the logging operations and building new buildings here and there and bringing industry into the county. Yes, there were a lot of Republicans there. I was out-numbered, but I started getting a sickening feeling that they truly believed that this vision of growth was a good thing. No one brought up the point of where and when it was all going to end and what we would look like in twenty years. The premise was that it was good for the community and it will give the children a reason to stay in the area.

I’m sure that vision is fixed for them, but in reality if you want the kids to stay here they should stop development right now. It was development that made me flea my home town and not want to return.

I wish that these visionaries could see the benefits of staying small and the possibilities of down sizing. Bigger is never better. When we get bigger we need to add more infrastructure to support the society. This means more government, more social programs, more schools, more jails, more police…it never ends.

There was a time not all that long ago when the Jail pictured above was the right size for this area. (By the way, for you out of Towners, that is our old County Jail and it was used in the film "the Goonies.") Would you prefer to live in a world where a Jail of this size was sufficient or in a world where we need a County Jail that can house hundreds? Uncontrolled growth and economic development will make us bigger, not better.