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PERSPECTIVE
- December 2001 by Sylvia L. Lovely Priority Check It remains difficult to think and talk about September 11 and what it portends for our future. The defining tragedy for America and, indeed, many other parts of the world was a very personal thing. Using the tools of our everyday lives to commit such a horrific crime against our fellow citizens was and remains unthinkable. As we come together in grief – joining in a way we haven’t experienced for many, many years – we know that the consequences of that day will be significant. Most of us have returned to our daily routines, but we continue to feel the reverberations of our national tragedy. A long-planned conference was held as scheduled in late September on the campus of Centre College. The “Morphing of Main Street: The Future of America’s Heartland Cities” found several expected participants choosing not to come. Too unnerved to fly, one of them said. The 100 or so high school students invited from around the state did not attend. Too risky to transport kids halfway across the state, their parents and teachers said. Understandable reactions in both instances. But there is something about the need to get on with the work at hand that drew enough folks together to make the meeting a worthwhile start on an important project: the revival of small- and mid-size cities across America, but particularly in its heartland. The decision to hold the meeting at Centre College in Danville was a deliberate one. Centre, after all, wowed the world with what was arguably the best-organized debate of the last presidential election. “Alex DeToqueville meets Norman Rockwell,” one East Coast newspaper proclaimed about the setting for the vice presidential debate. Two primary themes framed the planning for the conference. The first was the rapid pace of change in the world today and the impact those changes are having on cities and their surrounding communities. Our small and medium-sized cities have much work to do as they deal with the new economy, social change and quality of life issues. Although ill-defined, the new economy is being marked by a declining manufacturing sector that will likely continue to see lower-skill jobs being replaced with automation, productivity improvements and off-shore investments. Social change is creating circumstances for cities that boggle the mind. Changing migration patterns mean that the future of many cities will be defined by an influx of immigrants as diverse as the countries they once called home. And with quality
of life determining whether communities will survive in modern times,
many smaller cities struggle to assure solid futures in the absence
of the physical amenities, such as mountain ranges or ocean shores,
being sought by today’s “best and brightest” who can
afford to live and work anywhere. These are not people who will fondly recall the good old days of small town life. They will, instead, be drawn to places that are open to new ideas and welcome new and different people and the diversity they represent. This can be challenging news for communities whose populations of the past tended to look and think alike. With those themes as the base, the events of September 11 prompted a different way of looking at things. Some nascent thoughts that resulted:
Our appreciation
for our communities and the people in them can only serve as a source
of strength in these difficult days. It is strength we can rely and
build upon to assure a solid future for citizens throughout Kentucky
and our nation. Sylvia L. Lovely
is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities. |
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