When I was growing up, there were jobs galore there. You see, Russell Athletic was headquartered there. And really, our community was pretty much living large...or at the very least, we were all solidly middle class. We were mostly happy. We had a beautiful lake to boat on, swim in, fish in, ski on. Our downtown was quaint. It had charm, and a fountain, and mom and pop shops that had been there forever. The drugstore had a soda fountain that sold lime freezes and egg and olive sandwiches.
To say there had been no progress would be a lie. When I was growing up there were a couple subdivisions that went in, some apartment complexes. We went from the Strand, a single screen theater, to Playhouse Cinema, a double screen. Wal-Mart moved twice into bigger locations. But we got no Olive Gardens, no Chili's, no specialty grocery stores. And that was then...when the town could've supported it. Instead we drove to 45 minutes to Montgomery and ate at their Red Lobster and then came home and cruised the parking lots until curfew.
Slowly Russell Athletic started moving out. Plants were being moved to Costa Rica and down the road closer to the bigger cities. Eventually they were almost all gone, along with the jobs. People were moving - money for the roads, the schools, the parks along with them. I was last in my hometown two years ago. I took Hayley on a tour. The Russell plant I worked in right out of high school was being torn down. All that was left was a pile of bricks.
My hometown stood still while all around it bigger cities grew and developed. It still has the same quaint little downtown area, the fountain, the drugstore soda fountain still sells lime freezes and egg and olive sandwiches. And most people still buy them...when they're in town visiting. You see, I have very few friends still in my hometown. An aunt who works at a doctor's office, a cousin in a pharmacy. A friend who teaches at our alma mater, another who works for the county. A couple who have businesses. And there are a few who do what so many others do...live there and work out of town.
I work in an area similar to that now. I hear the complaints about growth and development. I hear how we don't need new housing developments and we don't need new businesses. I hear about how progress is destroying the "hometown feel" of the area. And every time I hear these things, all I can think about are those crumbling buildings, those empty houses, and those people who spend more time in their cars than with their families. And my heart hurts.
There's a balance to be found, a tightrope our civic leaders walk daily. How do we preserve and progress all at the same time? I'm glad it's not my job. But I have the utmost respect for the ones who do this job. The county I live and work in is ranked 95 out of 3100 counties in the US for per capita income. That's a lot more than I can say for my hometown.
I work in an area similar to that now. I hear the complaints about growth and development. I hear how we don't need new housing developments and we don't need new businesses. I hear about how progress is destroying the "hometown feel" of the area. And every time I hear these things, all I can think about are those crumbling buildings, those empty houses, and those people who spend more time in their cars than with their families. And my heart hurts.
There's a balance to be found, a tightrope our civic leaders walk daily. How do we preserve and progress all at the same time? I'm glad it's not my job. But I have the utmost respect for the ones who do this job. The county I live and work in is ranked 95 out of 3100 counties in the US for per capita income. That's a lot more than I can say for my hometown.
