When you live in a small city or town in Wyoming, you feel a
responsibility to build up businesses, create jobs and increase opportunities
for everyone.
When you succeed,
just about everyone benefits. It is a very good feeling.
After working
in economic development for 48 years, though, sometimes the thought of going to
more meetings can make you a little bit weary.
When I asked
John Davis of Worland what he thought about the recent news stories about how
Idaho was the fastest growing state and Wyoming was the slowest, he replied:
“An interesting discussion, but one that feels like déjà vu all over
again. This has been a recurring situation all of my life.”
John and I are
about the same age and, yes, it does seem like we have been trying to build our
communities our entire adult life.
And, yet, we
plod along.
This column is
part 2 of an earlier discussion about Idaho and Wyoming compare. Here are some
comments from folks around the state:
Foundation CEO Patrick Henderson of
Sheridan weighs in: “When I first graduated from college – I moved to Pocatello,
Idaho. Nice community – friendly folks, diverse economy, lots of outdoor
recreation and a great college. I have
family that lives in Boise, both in the education field with Boise State.
“One thought is that Idaho is just
a lot warmer to live in than Wyoming and has very little wind.
“Idaho
has lots to offer with fishing, skiing, hunting and climbing opportunities. Idaho
is attractive, but I still prefer my Wyoming!”
One of the best-informed (and
highly-opinionated) guys around is economist Jonathan Schechter of Jackson, who
bemoans Wyoming’s worship of King Coal and finds it similar to the country’s
worship of “King Trump.” He says: “Put more succinctly, Wyoming is putting a
profound amount of energy into denying two basic realities: market forces and
scientifically-grounded truth. The former is especially ironic given our
alleged embrace of said forces.
Schechter continues: “This is
essentially the same phenomenon as is occurring nationally, and in both cases
the process is abetted by an utterly credulous media, which lacks the
intelligence, imagination, courage, and/or ability to act in ways that would enlighten
its audience. In that sense, the media is little more than a fixed part
of the Kabuki dance Wyoming`s legislature is leading, where the script and all
roles are completely rote, leaving no room for change, initiative, or the
like. Switching metaphors, an Emperor`s New Clothes phenomenon.”
Retired
teacher Dennis Coelho of Cheyenne says: “I grew up in southwestern Idaho, on my
grandfather’s homestead, about thirty miles south of Nampa. I have been
living in Cheyenne for almost forty years, and I have often thought of
comparisons between our fair state and our neighbor to the west.
“I know that recently a similar
essay comparing the states has received national recognition.
“I think a comparison has to start
with geography and geology. My grandfather’s farm was at 2,200 feet,
while here it is 4,000 feet higher. Southern Idaho is a-slosh in
water. While grandfather’s place was on the Snake River, The actual water
was in a canyon 400 feet below and useless for farming in our area. Most
of southwestern Idaho draws irrigation from a dam on the Boise River, a project
started around 1900 and the impetus for settlement in the area.
“When I was a lad, circa mid
fifties, Boise was about the size that Cheyenne is now, i.e. about 50,000
people. Tree lined streets and quiet avenues filled with craftsman
houses.
“The Boise area really began to
grow when a couple of tech companies, Micron for example, made a commitment to
build factories and research centers in the area. To some extent, they
chose Boise because there was a two-year college with ambitions to become a
full university, since the state university was in a very inconvenient setting
several hundred miles north in Moscow, where it dominates a small town,
difficult to get to at any time but especially so in winter.
“The economic spark started by Micron is still
growing as more and more people come to the Boise area. Real estate booms,
housing values and development increase. The demographics show solid
growth in that 20-40 age group similar to that in Ft. Collins.
“No arguing with the impacts of energy
development in Wyoming, but Idaho has had its own industrial impacts and
problems especially in the hard rock gold and silver mining areas in the northern
part of the state.
Coelho concludes: “The thing I like
most about Boise is the river running through the city. Wish we had that. But I
am not moving.”
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