Notes from my Knapsack 2-17-22

Notes from my Knapsack 2-17-22
Jeff Gill

Preserve, enhance, advance
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For Granville and western Licking County, as we all see some dramatic changes coming as clearly as a squall line sweeping down out of the sky, I have three words of counsel.

Of course, I have more than those three, but this is what came to mind as I drove around, during the reflections I wrote about here last time, about the land we're going to see transformed into globally significant factories and economically disruptive locations.

Preserve, enhance, advance.

Preserve: the reality is, was, and always will be that we can't save it all. We cannot and should not want to preserve everything like a fly in amber, with the same stiffness not to say deadness that would result. Broadway and its businesses are not the same as it all was when I first moved here; some I miss, some I have trouble remembering. There are views we had from my house that are now blocked by new buildings which may or may not make my heart sing. I could have bought that lot across the road to prevent someone from building on it, and I did not, so I lose a particular vista.

The same is true for communities, townships, regions. The green space efforts we've made now look even wiser than they did at the time; zoning disputes are already happening where developers and builders are looking for maximum return even before the chip factory news. The time is now for us to figure out a) what do we want to preserve, and b) how much will we pay for it? Natural, historical, familiar things might all change soon: what do we want to preserve?

Enhance: since we can't preserve everything, we have to look at what it takes, as a communal endeavor, politically or in other civic arenas, to shore up and secure what we do have that we're going to keep. Schools and education are usually at the top of this list, but perhaps we've been content too long with a two item list of "excellent schools and a small town way of life." Seriously, what specific features do we want to make better, stronger, more secure as change like a rip tide washes around us?

Advance: Seven generations. If I have learned anything in the wonderful opportunity I've had in working with Native American groups and tribes and individuals in the last few decades in reference to the Newark Earthworks, it's the principle shared across many tribal nations and indigenous cultures in North America: how does this decision have an impact seven generations on? What in roughly 150 years will this choice mean? And if you can't answer the seven generations question, you haven't come up with a solution of any sort worth the name.

Preserve, enhance, advance. Because for good or ill, there are few things more socially disruptive than economic development. Anything we do not as a community make an intentional choice to preserve and maintain is going to be dramatically changed in the next few decades. And we can't preserve everything.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's seen a few communities change, sometimes for the better, sometimes otherwise. Tell him what you'd like to preserve at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.