I have heard the pro-mega-growth bunch voice their opinions. They say that we are growing at a fast rate,
we need housing, and with more housing we need big-box stores, we need more, more, more. Our only 'industry'
here is tourism, so where is this big demand for housing coming from? They say that we need homes for
growth and that the jobs to support these people are going to come from retail and construction jobs. How
many folks working these kinds of jobs can afford to buy homes that cost over $400,000? Thus, the people
that move into these new homes will be commuters. The permanent high-paying jobs are not here, nor will they
be in the near future. These homes will only bring temporary construction and they will create a demand
for more retail, that's it.
The resources that we have here are beautiful lakes for fishing, camping and water sports, wonderful hiking
trails, great roads for cycling, the Crest to Coast trail and other trails for riding and perfect hunting
spots for deer and turkey. If people living here want jobs and they want this place to grow into something
more modern with more retail, then the answer to this is to capitalize on what we already have. Tourism! We
have lakes, we have wineries, we have golf, we have a lot of recreation. So instead of seeing how many more
people we can bring here to live so we do not have to travel far for shops and restaurants, let's see how many
people we can bring here to visit.
Good and well-promoted tourism will bring jobs and business opportunities to folks who then could afford to
buy homes here. Developments appropriate to a tourist area could be built to accommodate these new people.
We could revitalize our downtown area to include shops and over store apartments or condos to provide
affordable housing. We could have quaint motels and some older homes in town could be converted to bed and
breakfast establishments.
There are many, many communities that thrive on tourism. They take advantage of their natural assets.
Visualize this for a moment. In town, there are shops and galleries lining both sides of the streets in a
backdrop of rolling hills and oaks. There is a boat and ski shop, there is a hunting and fishing shop, there
is a tack shop where tourists can purchase tickets for horse rental from a local stable. There are trails for
various activities surrounding the lake, there are gift shops, there are galleries where our local artists can
display and sell their work, there is a storefront for the Valley Springs Chamber of Commerce where visitors
can get maps and information about our local activities and other attractions. There can be cabins or small
motels for guests that do not want to camp. Within the town there is denser and more affordable housing. New
development within the town area would raise the value and condition of what already exists there.
Let's have a Valley Springs that will suit all of us! Where business people can make money and where our
citizens can still live in the country. Any new shopping centers can be designed so that they are appealing
visually for tourists (rustic theme with appealing landscaping perhaps or whatever the community decides).
Other commercial areas can have the same feel and appeal. New homes that are not within the Valley Springs
town area would be limited to set minimum lot sizes depending on their location so that we could retain our
country feel. If we place high-density housing inappropriately with relationship to our existing resources,
we will spoil our opportunity to attract tourists. In other words, no building close to the lake or other
places where open space is desirable for the tourism trade. Let's focus on tourists.
Seana Hogan