The Quiet Lumber Town Of Hoquiam Recognizes The Future And Takes To The Water

A town needs to grow and change to survive, and often this can be a tricky thing. Often a town is settled for one particular reason and then, years later, finds it needs to learn a new trick in order to stay viable, which is inevitable. How this town goes about remaking itself says a lot about how industrious the town itself is, but it also serves as a reflection on us and our modern times.

Hoquiam, Washington is an interesting example of these changes. Originally a logging town, it continues to celebrate its heritage with an internationally known event called Loggers’ Playday. And every fall there is a logging competition and parade to remind the people of how their hamlet came to be. But where some traditions are timeless, fundamental to the fabric of a town’s culture, others have to be created anew.

Take, for example, the waterfront. This part of the city’s downtown has not been well used since a 1980s Renaissance. But with the possibilities presented by new development, suddenly there’s a chance that it can become a hub for the area. They can’t just rely on logging contests forever — there’s got to be more to a city’s life than that.

There’s space on the waterfront for hotels and shops, the kind of commerce that makes a town a city — or at least a bigger town. A good waterfront area has done much for other cities, notably San Antonio and Baltimore. It creates a kind of city center with room for dining and shopping and entertainment. And of course there’s a natural feature that serves as built-in scenery, something to sit by while sipping drinks or having a bit of dinner.

There’s another good reason for them to consider its development options. There’s its bigger neighbor to the east, Aberdeen, with whom Hoquiam has a kind of rivalry. Bigger towns tend to get the better opportunities, often more money from the state, than the smaller town. Older siblings always get the new stuff while littler kids get the hand-me-downs. But so if they think about what they want to become and apply that vision in creating a lovely downtown waterfront, they can show that next-door neighbor how great a town can be.

A town’s history is important, but so is its future direction. New ideas need to be embraced. Hoquiam, like many small towns, needs to be brave in embracing its possibilities for that future — it can preserve its history even as it evolves.

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