Where do we go from here?
That was the question posed at the Forest Grove Town Meeting last month. Although I did not have a chance to attend, there has been a lot of discussion on the bulletin boards around town. Suggestions like turning Forest Grove into a Wine gateway, adding a Town Center, or bringing in more Arts.
These are all good suggestions – assuming everything is back to normal and our main goal is to attract more people / business to boost our local economy.
But is everything normal? We are still in the clutches of a major economic recession. Many people are still out of work. Job are getting harder and harder to find. Every day more and more businesses are closing their doors for good. Hollywood Video closed a dozen Oregon stores just last week. Basco’s Burgers in Cornelius is closing after 30 years. Rumor has it that Horton’s Office Supply could be closing soon.
In Colorado Springs, CO the city just turned off a third of its streetlights and has police helicopters for sale on the Internet. City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good in March. California is near bankruptcy. Nevada’s budget is so far out of balance that by one account the state could lay off every worker paid from the general fund and still be $300 million in the red. Prisons may be closed, entire colleges shuttered and thousands left without jobs. And in Utah, facing massive budget cuts, one school district is considering eliminating the 12th grade altogether.
No, I’m sorry. This does not sound like everything is back to normal. And I really doubt if inviting people out for wine tasting will help.
Well then….what should we do? Where should we focus? Becoming a better bedroom community?
As I said, encouraging more people and/or businesses to move to Forest Grove is a good idea – assuming the recession is indeed over and our economy will soon be getting back to normal. But just remember, it has taken us several years to get to this point. Do you really think it’s going to improve very quickly? And of course, there is always that possibility….. that it just doesn’t.
Here’s another happy scenario. Climate change. The debate could go on for years, but the truth of the matter is this…. our climate IS changing. Ask Europe who had one of the coldest winters on record. Ask Washington DC who got hit recently with two, back to back, snowstorms. Ask Dallas, TX who just got hit with 12.5″ of snow, yes, Dallas. Google the Iguanas and Manatees in Florida. It’s happening, whether we are to blame, or not. What if it happens here?
Remember our little snow storm just two Christmases ago? I was stuck in my house for 2 weeks! I had to ask a neighbor to run me down to Safeway for a prescription for my wife. He had a huge 4 wheel drive truck, with chains, and we still got stuck. And when we finally made it to Safeway…..(our one and only grocery store in town), many of the shelves were already bare. You could clearly see panic in many of the faces that were there.
And what would a gloom and doom posting be without mentioning Peak Oil. Many experts are predicting that worldwide oil production will peak very soon if it hasn’t already. Remember, we are a bedroom community. The majority of our residents depend on commuting to work every day. What happens if oil surged to $147 a barrel again? Remember what it was like paying $4 a gallon? What is this time it hits $5? What about $10?
The town focus? The future of Forest Grove? We might want to look at communities like Boulder, Colorado for inspiration.
Boulder County Going Local was only named an official transition initiative earlier this month, but it’s getting started with a bang. The organization has already launched a series of talks and workshops to teach residents how to survive with local resources entitled “The Great Reskilling”. Planned events include “High Altitude Gardening”, “Garden Design and Planting A La Permaculture”, “The Bountiful Pantry”, and “Solar Greenhouse Design”.
It is sobering to think about how few survival skills most of us have. Perhaps if more transition initiatives like Boulder’s take off, we can relearn the skills that fossil fuel-based industrialization has rendered useless.
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Leveraging the wine industry for economic growth should not be characterized by mentions of “inviting people for wine tasting.”
To ignore this potential in Forest Grove is to ignore a $100 million++ industry in our own backyard — an industry that we are virtually ignoring as we have our eye on the “other” next big thing that we hope comes to town. Never mind this industry is kin to the $1 billion Oregon wine/grape industry…
Ask Walla Walla or Napa if they see their wine tourism industry as just inviting people to taste wine.
To ignore this opportunity for our future is in my opinion civic malpractice.
Come on Forest Grove!!!! This is our time and our opportunity!!
Jonathan Kipp
I think you’re splitting hairs a little when saying Forest Grove should attract businesses and pay less attention to something like wine-country tourism. I think the problem Forest Grove faces is one of perception, and that perception is what keeps both businesses and tourists away.
What do I hear when people discuss Forest Grove? Words like rural, secluded, boon-docks and hard-to-get-to. Businesses and tourists alike feel that Forest Grove is too secluded and in a way, I think they are correct.
The ways to get in to Forest Grove are either time-consuming (Baseline through Cornelius), confusing to newcomers (the farmland roads via Glencoe, Zion Church and Cornelius Schefflin roads) or too far out of the way (Hwy 47 from Banks). While Forest Grove is not far away mileage-wise from locations such as Portland, Beaverton or Hillsboro it is far away with respect to travel time.
If what you want is to attract permenent residents and large businesses that will employ these residents then this perception should be remedied. But how? Improving the access to Forest Grove would be a major step in the right direction and I, for one, vote for a MAX extension (attached to the main line – none of this transfer station BS).
I don’t disagree, in either comment above, that the wine/tourism industry would be a huge boost for Forest Grove. No doubt. I hope it happens!
My concern is, as our economy continues to decline, (as I really don’t think we’ve seen the worst part of the recession yet), are people going to WANT to come “way out here”, to the “boondocks”, just for a bottle or two of wine? I don’t think so.
So focusing on growth, in my opinion, is not a viable option – in this economy. Focusing on sustainability is.
A MAX extension would be an excellent first step.
I don’t know, people still go out to Newberg/Dundee and the Evergreen Aviation museum to taste/buy wine, so why not here? We’ve got some great wineries in and around here. Why not try to capitalize on it?
Sure, we have a couple of wine shops/bistros in town, but we need to get more different types of wine businesses in here; touring groups, B&B’s that offer winery tour packages, etc. I think it could work but definitely agree about Light rail coming out here. To me, it’s long past due.
I wish I could of come to the meeting,too, but wasn’t able, as well. I’d love to see us get a co-op type of grocery store here. There are several different community co-op stores in the Portland Metro area and especially since we are so close to farms out here, I think it’d be a good match for more business in this area, too.
If you are concerned about businesses closing their doors, here is one thing that my husband and I have always done as third generation business owners and residents. Buy local! Why drive to another town when you have businesses here? The prices may be a little better somewhere else, in some instances, but figure in your gas and time and service from locals. We’ve never regretted shopping local and therefore supporting friends and community.