The evolution of a town is always a delicate act, as much art as commerce. A town that has been established for one reason may find the need to explore other options as times change, which inevitably, of course, they do. But the way a town changes is a thing well worth paying attention to, because it says a lot about the changes in our culture at large.
Look at the town of Hoquiam, Washington; it’s a town going through changes. Established as a logging town, it maintains that history with events such as the Loggers’ Playday. On top of that, there’s a logging competition and accompanying parade every fall. So while it’s important to preserve and celebrate a town’s past, it’s also necessary, sometimes, to invent new traditions.
Consider the Hoquiam waterfront. This stretch of city in the Hoquiam downtown has been underused since its previous heyday in the 1980s. Now that some development has taken an interest in it, there’s a possibility for it to become a much more colorful and vital part of the local community. It can’t be all logging contests and lumber festivals, after all.
There’s space on the Hoquiam waterfront for hotels and shops, the kind of commerce that makes a town a city — or at least a bigger town. A good waterfront area has done much for other cities, notably San Antonio and Baltimore. It creates a kind of city center with room for dining and shopping and entertainment. And of course there’s a natural feature that serves as built-in scenery, something to sit by while sipping drinks or having a bit of dinner.
There’s another good reason for Hoquiam to consider its development options. There’s its bigger neighbor to the east, Aberdeen, with whom Hoquiam has a kind of rivalry. Bigger towns tend to get the better opportunities, often more money from the state, than the smaller town. Older siblings always get the new stuff while littler kids get the hand-me-downs. But so if Hoquiam thinks about what it wants to become and applies that vision in creating a lovely downtown waterfront, it can show that next-door neighbor how great a town can be.
That balance between tradition and innovation is an important one. But it’s necessary to think about making change to avoid stagnation in a community. And when small towns such as Hoquiam find this opportunity for evolution, they should take a chance or two and grow.
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categories: hotels,housing,development,real estate,property