The Times They Are Achangin'

Ok, it’s time to commit small town blasphemy, and it all has to do with change.

While we were smiling contentedly at the notion that we are lucky to live in a “quaint” little village, right on Lake Michigan and away from the usual problems of the “big city”, the complexion of the global economy changed. Our state and each of its communities were drawn into this economic vortex. Specifically, we are no longer a country of manufacturing, but rather of service.

At one time most of the businesses in Michigan were tied to the automobile manufacturing industry. Today most of those jobs have left Michigan… and the United States for that matter. Whereas not many years ago there was National Motors, Bohn Aluminum, Overton’s and Everett Piano, today, there are but a handful of small factories (with the exception of Wyckoff Chemical), who employ few workers. Evidently, economies abhor a vacuum with the result that there are at least 6 motels, 6 fast food restaurants, a Wal-Mart Superstore, untold numbers of bed and breakfasts, and yes, friends and neighbors….. CONDOS; not to mention single family dwellings all over town owned by people from Chicago and Indiana. The downtown storefronts now display works of art, trendy home fashions, chocolates and antiques. Mercifully there are few “T-shirt” shops and there remain the hardware and barber shops.

Well all of this tedious rhetoric brings us to one conclusion. We have evolved into a service oriented community, catering to tourists and second home owners. In other words we have shaped ourselves (or have been shaped) to fit today’s economy. Is this a bad thing? No. Is it different? Yes. And the truth is there are always a vocal group of citizens objecting to “different”. A case in point (although no longer relevant), was the sale of the soon to be defunct Indiana School. The school board had a tentative agreement to sell the building (after it’s renovations, I would hesitate to call it an historic building) to a Chicago developer to convert it into condominiums. Neighbors objected on the grounds that it would change the ambiance of the neighborhood and create traffic problems. Would it change the neighborhood? No doubt, but not necessarily in a detrimental way. Would it create traffic problems? No more than existed with parents dropping kids off or picking them up from school several times a day. As far as I could tell, none of the people writing their opinions to the editor of the local paper suggested how the property should be utilized.

There are other examples, but enough is enough. People of South Haven, embrace the changes. Accept the tourist dollars, accept the taxes the second home owners pay (while we homesteaders pay less), and accept the jobs created (even though they may pay less than during the Union’s heyday). After all, the alternative is to move to where there are jobs. How about China for example?