The Small Township Of Hoquiam Evaluates The Past And Grows Up

Small towns are the direct product of human decisions, millions of them, going on daily, weekly, monthly since the advent of time. Or at least the advent of the town. These decisions comprise the true nature of a town, and often towns end up far, far different than their first days as a result. Some end up becoming cities. Others end up becoming empty places. To even out these small decisions and shape the destiny of a town, the community often has to get together and make a big decision or two.
The town of Hoquiam, Washington, to take one entirely random example, is in the midst of making some definitive decisions about its future. Originally a logging and lumber town, the people of Hoquiam display their pride at their town’s history with logging competitions and fall parades, and with an event that gets international attention, Loggers’ Playday. So but the town isn’t all lumber and sawmills; so how to make the most of the city’s other attributes, particularly its natural ones?
You Have to River-walk Before You Can River-run
This growth would occur along the Hoquiam waterfront, the part of downtown running along the Hoquiam River. What to do with riverside property is a question many towns face, and for cities with developed waterfronts like San Antonio and Baltimore, the investment was met with great success. An underused area became, in a few years, a popular area full of restaurants and bars, hotels and shopping, entertainment of all kinds.
The Hoquiam waterfront had a precedent; in the 1980s it was a popular place to visit. Now that development has taken interest in the area, the community has to think seriously about who it is, and who it’s going to become. And how money is going to be spent to get it there.
A Process of Maturing
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.