The backstory:
- In a previous post I talked about some of the proposed community improvements of my hometown. They touched on a lot of important issues affecting the vitality of the community.
- I have this friend named Brooke. She is also from Vernon, and went away to college and now works in Vienna. She eventually will move back to Vernon to take over her family's ranching business. Her musings of late are about how to make Vernon a more attractive and revitalized place for young people so that moving back will not be so unbearable.
Her questions to me: How do we start? How can we change it? How do we jolt a sleepy small town into the current millennium and improve upon the town without disrespecting the embedded history of the area? It is very interesting to discuss these topics with someone disengaged from my architecture bubble, and actually apply the things we've talked about in class to a place that is close to my heart. Figuratively, of course. It was such a treat to have an thought out planning conversation about such an improvement project for our old stomping grounds. Our Skype catchup session quickly turned into a discussion about the order of things. Say, hypothetically, that we have the funding to initiate a huge community makeover. What happens first?
Well, we thought about what draws people to small towns like Vernon: schools and jobs.
SCHOOLS
First, we'd improve the school system so that academically the district was very well respected, the athletic program would draw a lot of rising athletes, and the best teachers would be attracted to being a part of such an exemplary school system. With a mother and two aunts in the school system, I'm very much aware that this is no easy feat. There's a lot of work to be done in that field to bring Vernon up to a level that people would move there for the excellence of education and extracurriculars. Then, we'd need something for the parents to do while their kids were in our exceptional schools.
JOBS
How do we bring in new industry to Vernon? Currently, agriculture is the leading industry, with many people also employed at the state hospital, the power plant, the Tyson food plant, and the guar processing plant. How do we bring in a new type of industry, or something more to create jobs for this influx of people? Technological companies. Manufacturing facilities. Factories. Mass production to create maximum jobs. That's what were were thinking. There's plenty of space in and around Vernon for large-scale plants or businesses....but what draws businesses to a small town like that?
- price of acquiring land ----- super cheap, it's a small town in northwest Texas, not downtown Austin
- connectivity for transportation of goods ---- we're at the intersection of several highways, in the middle of the pentagon invisibly drawn between Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Lubbock, and Abilene.
- employees ----- there are currently many people unemployed in Vernon, plus the tons of people that will come there to put their kids in a top notch public education program
- customer base-----hmm, well not so great unless it's a product or service targeted at people in the Texhoma region or agriculture of the area
So, in theory, Vernon's not a bad place for a big business like Apple or Kraft or General Electric or Ford...or ♥J.Crew♥ ...and if we devised an incentive for the company to make such a big move, it could kickstart a whole wave of improvements.
AND THEN BOOM
Once the large corporation moves in, it provides a demand for smaller support businesses for those people, more housing, and a wider range of amenities like restaurants, bars, gyms, coffee shops, retail, entertainment, etc. And once these people start pumping their money into the community, that's when we can make the beautification improvements and design communities spaces to integrate the new with the old... Renovate the schools to implement new technologies in the classrooms. Build a new football stadium for the stellar athletic program and to attract playoff games and events to be held in Vernon. Reenergize the old downtown area and renew the connection to the old western trails...Spark more interest in the Summer's Last Blast event held there every year to showcase classic and custom cars and motorcycles...emphasize Vernon's awesome automotive mechanic skills and shops...
Other suggestions from Brooke include city-sponsered activities for kids after school or on weekends. Horseback riding, a new drive in theater, bowling alley, art center, yoga studio, dance studio, improved parklands, skate park, etc. Basically anything to keep them busy with something besides sex, drugs, and alcohol---reducing the teen pregnancy rate and drug-related crime rate.
It was really interesting to discuss with a non-architecture or planning major about the planning development of our existing hometown.
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