Notes from my Knapsack 5-26-22

Notes from my Knapsack 5-26-22
Jeff Gill

Community and consumerism in tension
___

I live in a place where we often say it's small town values we celebrate, and a sense of community is what we want to preserve.

That's what we say.

Yet I think it's beyond questioning that we wouldn't be as healthy and economically vital a community as we are if we didn't have big city amenities just a short drive away. There are charming towns and villages about our size in other parts of Ohio, with even more scenery and history woven into the landscape, but they're a long way from a metro area, and it shows.

It can be hard to find professionals to consult, shops to frequent, few restaurants other than the obligatory drive-thru fast food smack in the middle of the remaining historic downtown. Lots of good hearted small cities all over the Midwest like that. To have a full spectrum of services that a wide range of incomes wants in the neighborhood requires a city be close, even if not too close.

Even within the village, though, I am baffled by some of the conversations I have in a place where people keep saying "we came for the small town feel." They also say showing up at a meeting or program "I had to walk all the way around the block from my parking place!" I've said it before and I'll say it again, we don't have a parking problem we have a walking problem.

Sure, it's a delightful surprise to find an open space right in front of where you're going, but I don't think it's the job of village staff or the chamber of commerce to ensure one. Plus there are precious few of us who couldn't benefit from a (gasp!) two block walk.

I've also written before about a circumstance I try not to see as a problem, but also wonder if there's a solution to it, problem or not. A startling, to me, percentage of school-age parents come here for the schools, and leave with remarkable briskness once the commencement music fades. The argument is that our taxes mean it's an economic decision to only spend ten or twelve years resident in the village; I could debate the actual size of the increase here versus elsewhere (if you downsize when you move, that's a different discussion than taxes per se), but I do wonder if we should as a community do more to work towards getting people to WANT to stay after their kids graduate.

Because isn't having a supply of seniors still active and resident in the village part of that small town appeal?

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's been attending a few graduation related events lately. Tell him about your ideas of community at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.