Road Report
I am writing from the in-laws in Cullowhee (and the obvious and frequent rejoinder is CulloWHERE?) near the Smoky Mountains--from very near the place we lived when my daughter met her husband while in high school here in the late 80s. I am looking out from K and K's deck over the campus of Western North Carolina University, and I must tell you--there is more of it than there used to be. The school is growing in both enrollment, facilities and academic status, and is no longer a wannabe in the NC university system. Even so, there is no HERE here.
There is no real town of Cullowhee. The nearest place for restaurants, shops and such used to be 6 miles north in the congested two street downtown of Sylva. Now, the ugliest of strip malls, big box stores and same-old fast food franchises have filled both sides of the road between Cullowhat and Sylva--roads that were gridlocked when we lived here in '89, and with thousands more WNC students year round, and tens of thousands of Smokies visitors in all seasons but winter.
This beautiful place is an anthill stirred with a stick, even mid-week and off-peak. And there are lessons to be learned here by the little berg of Floyd: ugly and over-built is forever. (Beyond the man-made un-naturalness, nature here is still magnificent here!) That which makes a place unique and gives it identity can be lost so easily by yielding to the great homogenizing consumer juggernaut of "convenience" and "jobs no matter what". At least in Floyd, our visitor population is mostly just passing through on their way somewhere else, while students--not forever--are for at least 9 months every year.
Comments
Hey Phred and Pham -- I could only guess about Sylva... gives one room for pause...
please tell the Miners (all of them) and Ma hallo, that I wish I could be there. And pick me up a pack of '90 Donruss baseball cards, willya?
Posted by: nate | April 20, 2006 12:41 PM
I would add another juggernaut to your list, especially as it pertains to the Cullowhee/Sylva/Dillsboro region: that of "don't tell me what to do with my property." That seems to mean something along the lines of: "I can junk up my property and put any old building and trash on it if I want to and you can't stop me."
Check out the editorial page of this week's Sylva Herald. There has been much discussion about development around here. Planning and zoning are seen as the enemy, but without it, this county stand to lose the very beauty that draws the tourists with the money.
As you can see, Fred, moving here from the big (by NC standards) city has me more involved in such issues.
Floyd, take heed.
Posted by: wesleyjeanne | April 20, 2006 2:01 PM
Sylva and Bryson City are my old stomping grounds--used to go every summer to hear the gospel singing in the mountains, mostly by The Inspirations who live in that neck of the woods. Haven't been now in over 25 years, but you brought back memories of that area. Hope you enjoy your time away.
Posted by: Deb | April 20, 2006 8:16 PM
I have heard reasons that Floyd is unchanged for the better is that Floyd is primarily a Republican county in an otherwise Democrat . This caused development funds to be diverted to Democrat counties rather than to Floyd. I also heard that the old-time locals voted against having a railroad (Norfolk & Western, I believe) come through Floyd, which kept development away. Most of the original families purchased coffee and sugar and made everything else they used. Whatever the reasons, bully for Floyd!
Posted by: Jim | April 21, 2006 3:54 PM