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 city’s waterfront. This stretch of city in 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 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 reason for the city to develop its waterfront. There’s a kind of long-running rivalry with its bigger neighbor to the east, the town of Aberdeen. These bigger towns often get more development opportunities, more tax money, than its smaller sister. Like the older sibling who gets all the new stuff while the little sister has to play with old toys. So it’s in Hoquiam’s interest to develop that downtown waterfront into a place friendly to locals and tourists alike, if for no other reason than it could give Aberdeen something to thing about.
A town’s history is important, but so is its future direction. New ideas need to be embraced. Hoquiam, like many small towns, needs to be brave in embracing its possibilities for that future — it can preserve its history even as it evolves.
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