October 12, 2010
The Excellent Township Of Hoquiam Thinks About The Past And Heads For The Water
When a town ages, it has to change too, to avoid stalling out, fading away. Often a town has been planted in a place to satisfy some specific cultural or economic need, and if those days pass, the town has to change its game. And the way a town does this is very important, because it says as much about the times we’re all living in as about the way a town makes decisions.
A fine example of this evolution is seen in the Washington town of Hoquiam. Hoquiam was originally a logging town, a history it recalls with an annual event — Loggers’ Playday. And in the fall there is a logging competition and a parade to further remind the people how they got here. While maintaining these traditions is important, sometimes it’s necessary to invent something new.
Take, for example, the Hoquiam waterfront. This part of the city’s downtown has not been well used since a 1980s Renaissance. But with the possibilities presented by new development, suddenly there’s a chance that it can become a hub for the area. Hoquiam can’t just rely on logging contests forever — there’s got to be more to a city’s life than that.
There’s ample area on the Hoquiam waterfront for new amenities such as shopping and entertainment, features that make a town a good place to visit. Waterfront development has been a major boon for cities such as Baltimore and San Antonio. For those towns, like Hoquiam, this area becomes a natural place to congregate, to put in shops and dining opportunities. The river itself becomes a major draw, a natural feature that lends the downtown its own special beauty while giving people a place to have a drink.
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.
It is important to hang on to heritage and history. It’s also important to reach out to new opportunities. Small towns like Hoquiam should be unafraid of change — the best cities straddle centuries, after all.
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