Economic Development Means ...What?
I don’t give up sometimes. I want the truth. I can handle it. I went to the Office of Economic Development/ Chamber of Commerce in Clovis, NM. I’ve been in town for a week with very little to do.
The officers in the Chamber of Commerce lost me when they said, “We may not agree on this but Smart Growth isn’t always the best thing…”
We agreed about the definition of smart growth. However, the Clovis Chamber officers don’t believe that controlling growth and concentrating it in certain parts of the geography where people already live and work is the right way to go. They support natural sprawl and an endless sea of Allsup, McDonald’s, Wallmart and Taco Bell chain stores on a central street that also grows no recreation or mom and pop, entrepreneurial businesses because the landscape is too expensive and doesn’t have any sidewalks or charm to attract strolling or public gatherings.
Why?
I don’t know really. But here’s what they said. The sewer system in the historic part of town can’t handle growth. The only area that can handle growth is the Northeast part of town. The Northeast part of town is where new construction is going on but it looks like sprawl…houses and no central services. People drive further and further to get to Prince Street where there are a sea of chain stores and no recreation.
One economic Develpment officer said he’d never been to the park where the zoo and dog park are. Why does this matter? Because he recognizes there are almost no communal gathering places. People live far from this park. He doesn’t seem phased by it. He’s given up on helping people and businesses find one another and enjoy amusement filled lives and this is his job…
I pointed to the large population on the Air Force base. I also noted that the motels in town are full of government and non-government contract workers. “Where are people supposed to go to have fun, spend money and meet one another in this town?”, I asked.
Without joking- he told me about a couple of places in town with a rare state issued liquor license - “Applebees and Kelly’s Bar”.
Liquor licenses distinguish the restaurants, bars and stores in a town. People drink in families and groups of friends. They go where there’s a liquor license. Clovis has a limited few because those who retain licenses can sell them to anyone in the state for millions of dollars.
The folks in Clovis’ Economic Development office basically told me that a city can’t keep it’s liquor licenses if the local businesses want to sell them. They are controlled at the state level.
"Why not lobby to change the system so that places like the City of Clovis don’t lose their liquor licenses?", I asked. "Because we can’t afford a lobbyist", he said.
"All right", I ventured, " What about recreation? What do your 50% young (under 30) people do - especially those without families who want to do something when they’re not working? Where are the businesses that cater to their exercise, meeting, and playing interests?"
"It’s true", he said. He agreed that the young people are bored. "They’re selling meth- amphetamine, getting pregnant and moving out as singles", I proposed. "When you’re ready to come to this town and open a recreation center- let me know!", he said. "We’ll help you."
"I’m confused", I said. "You have a historic downtown, a famous historic site or two in the music world, full hotels and an Air Force base and yet no one has anything to do at the city level. Your chain convenience stores sell alcohol and people line up to buy it but then they go back to their isolated environments instead of building and enjoying locally grown establishments.
The folks in the Chamber of Commerce agreed that the town of Clovis used to have Air Force personnel who went out on the town, youth who drove around town, and several places where people liked to go. The town then made it illegal for young people to cruise the main drag. The Air Force cracked down on fraternizing in town and drinking. And the local businesses with liquor licenses sold out to other town. They also admitted that they don’t support “Smart Growth”.
Towns in America are missing the point of life after home and work. Places like Clovis are so scared of alcohol and regulations, lobbying and proactive economic development that they’ll never attract people and businesses. They’re going to have long term difficulty keeping their residents and their youth will get into trouble for lack of something better to do.
So here we are. And here we’ll stay until people realize the impoverished policies of city and state government are hurting/not helping.
The answer isn’t to give up on government - it’s the opposite. Get involved. Start looking for solutions and build life back up again to suit the needs of residents. Someday/ some cities won’t have positive options any more and people will be forced to suffer or move.