Any small town is a study of the small decisions that shape it. And those decisions, made by residents and businesspeople and the government that runs it, often take it in directions it might never have seemed able to go. But there it is: sometimes towns grow all on their own, and it seems like there’s nothing to be done but watch the changes, like a rebellious teenager. Sometimes, of course, it’s time to make big decisions too.
The town of Hoquiam, Washington is in the middle of these considerations at the moment. Historically a logging town in the lumber rich Pacific Northwest, Hoquiam has preserved its heritage through a variety of events. There’s the annual, and internationally famous, Loggers’ Playday, as well as logging competitions and parades in the fall. Now it has to consider whether it wants to grow.
Riverside Possibilities
Some big changes are proposed for Hoquiam’s waterfront area. The Hoquiam River runs through the city’s downtown before emptying into Grays Harbor, making the area ripe with potential as a place to visit, for locals and tourists alike. A gem of a waterfront had profound positive effects on the economies of both San Antonio and Baltimore. Done right, a waterfront of dining and shopping and entertainment quickly becomes the heart of a community.
The Hoquiam waterfront hasn’t seen much action since its heyday in the 1980s, but now there is development interest, and so the community has to think seriously about what kind of town it may want to become. Development is obviously no guarantee of success, nor will it necessarily turn Hoquiam into a metropolis, but decisions need to be made collectively, because of course growth isn’t free — tax money is the ruche fertilizer for civic growth.
Mature Decisions
Another consideration worth a moment is Hoquiam’s relationship to Aberdeen, the larger city to the east. This relationship, like probably all neighboring towns, is one of friendly rivalry. And rivalry often does good things for innovation. Hoquiam is at the mouth of the river, right on Grays Harbor, so it has opportunities no other town in the area does.
But Hoquiam must proceed cautiously. It is interested in preserving its past, as is evident in the 2009 revitalization of its train depot. So it knows how to preserve and honor its past; now it must seriously consider how it wants to carry that history forward, what kind of city it wants to become.
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