There is a trend among revived and reviving small towns that has to do with downtown--in a word they have one. Places that are doing better have coffee shops, some retail, and usually a restaurant or two. While you will likely not have a chain store right in town there are still some places to shop. Just recently some friends and I were out on a jaunt to find Edna Lewis' grave and home community in nearby Orange, VA, and landed for lunch in tiny Gordonsville. What a find! A french bakery, upscale restaurant, iron work/art galley, and a terrific dress shop--were conveniently located on main street. There were other shops that looked great, too. It was destination experience--I am already planning a return trip to try the other restaurant and to check out the nearby wineries. This is, of course, the idea. Having enough for people to spend their money on and creating a desirable place to live.
A long way from Gordonsville is Oelwein, Iowa, that had the same idea. Going in the wrong direction in population and with its economy, Oelwein has turned things around by focusing on their downturn. Almost destroyed by a tornado in 1968, Oelwein had to rebuild most of the town. Although lesser places might have thrown in the towel, not this town. They have come back strong and are a testament to what can be done. The town is an active player in the Great Eastern Iowa Tractorcade that winds it way through part of Iowa and are seeing a resurgence in their economy and their quality of life. Once the "hub" for railroad traffic, they are building on that heritage as well.
Small towns like Gordonsville and Oelwein are inventing the futures for themselves. One of my favorite quotes from Charles Kettering goes something like this. When asked the difference between inventors and the rest of us he answered. "most of us are thinking about where we have been, inventors are thinking about where they are going." These towns are going somewhere.
