Well, here it is, 2006, and if you’ve heard the sounds of heavy equipment on the Western Land Reliance Trust property off Clark Mill Road, you’ve heard the sound of change.
We’re talking about 49 lots where developer Dan Desler sent in excavating equipment to begin working last week (see page 5).
These lots are part of a 432-lot subdivision that was given the go-ahead by the city Planning Commission last year. This month, commission members approved a 236-unit development at the end of 10th Avenue. Between them, that’s 668 new houses or apartments, and that does not count another 1,100 proposed lots along the river, about 500 of them Desler’s, in earlier stages of development.
To be blunt, Desler’s and these other projects have evoked some pessimism and nay-saying in town.
We’ve all heard folks either bemoaning the arrival of these new homes (and residents) or staunchly maintaining that it would never happen, that Desler and other developers would be unable to get their acts together to actually make something happen.
Well, something is happening. Whether it is good or not depends on how we all respond.
These residences are not going to be hovels, attracting folks looking for the cheapest place to lay their heads. No, the people who are expected to buy many of these homes will be people with money — either money they are earning at current jobs or money they’ve saved for retirement. They also will be people looking for a better life, which is why most of us have moved to Sweet Home at one point or another.
Sweet Home has a lot of pluses, but its economy is currently not one of them. These homes, while certainly increasing travel on city streets and demands for city services, also will increase cash flow in Sweet Home. There’s a good chance that more businesses could get a foothold here with the arrival of these new residents.
Some, if not many, of these folks will come from out of state. Many will likely be fleeing inordinately high housing prices and crummy city lives. They really won’t be much different than any of us already here. We all know that we, or our parents, our grandparents, or some relative down the line, arrived here under similar circumstances — usually looking for a better life.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we’ve heard muttering about “those Californians” or developers who “are going to turn Sweet Home into California.”
We’re not too hot on cookie-cutter, cheaply built housing, either. We’re not suggesting that our local developers are of the ilk that build this kind of junk and skate away as the houses slide down the hillsides. But we expect that our city officials will ensure that these new homes are built the right way, built to last, and that they will be a positive addition to the city. Sweet Home can’t afford to have it any other way.
Sure, local folks opposed to change could resist these newcomers, but that would be a mistake. Many of them will likely bring talent and positive influences to our community. They may be able to help Sweet Home change for the better.
Some of these new residents will bring vision and, we hope, energy to make that vision a reality. There is vision here now, but it’s been dulled somewhat by tough economic realities that have hurt Sweet Home and turned it into what it is today — a bedroom community that needs to become something more than that.
The fact is, change is inescapable. The sound of that heavy equipment off Clark Mill Road is the sound of change. We want that change to be progress in a positive direction for Sweet Home and it will take attention and effort from all of us — city officials, residents and newcomers to make that happen.