How are you enjoying the warm weather? It’s about time, right?
I’ve been in Creston six months. It hasn’t always been easy, but I believe everything is finally settling down and my son and I are adjusting somewhat to our new surroundings.
We like to walk around Creston when it’s warm out. There haven’t been many warm days yet and I’m looking forward to being able to get out and walk more. While we’re walking around, we talk about uptown and the buildings and houses we pass by.
We don’t talk about how run down they are, or how neglected they look. We talk about the size, or the detail, or something about the building that appeals to us.
I’ve written about this before, but I think with the updates Union County Development Association have planned for uptown, maybe it bears repeating.
A word that comes to mind is “pride.” I absolutely believe that there is potential in Creston. The town just needs a bit of polish and it can be the gem of southwest Iowa. We can create a town we can be proud of. It will take a collective effort from everyone though, homeowners and business owners a like.
To that end, I am delighted by what UCDA has in store for uptown. From renovating the building on the corner of Montgomery and Elm streets to the mural painted on the intersection on Maple and Adams streets in front of the depot, I’m excited to see what the next couple of years have in store for the town.
And who doesn’t love the fact that Amtrak will soon be operating out of the depot again? That’s the way it should be.
I would also like to urge the homeowners and landlords to take a look at their properties and see what they can do to freshen them up. Even just a fresh coat of paint can make a house sparkle and increase the resale value should the home be put on the market later. Homeowners in Creston pay a lot in property taxes. Perhaps they should have a home that looks like it’s worth what they pay.
Of course, with any sort of update or revitalization, there is sure to be some construction.
Construction is one of those things that, even though we know it needs to happen, we still complain about the inconvenience of it.
We don’t like to be forced to take an alternate route because the road we usually take is being torn up. We don’t like the fact that we can’t park in a certain area because they are doing work on the building.
I realize construction can be somewhat inconvenient, but that inconvenience is generally only temporary. Construction, more often than not, yields some sort of improvement, so it might be worth a little temporary inconvenience.
Case in point, the little town in Wyoming where I lived tore out the entire Main Street one summer. Everyone had to park on the side streets or in the alley. It took an entire summer for crews to redo the street, but the end result was was worth the wait. They did the same thing the following summer to another road.
Was it inconvenient? Yes. For a time, navigating around the construction area was a bit of a pain, but in the end we had nice streets to drive on.
My point is, regardless of how inconvenient we think construction is, it’s something we need to put up with if we want a nice uptown area that Creston can be proud of.
I believe every town has a spirit and that spirit is reflected in the people and homes and businesses within its borders.
How do you imagine the spirit of Creston? If the spirit of Creston was a person, what would they look like? What would you like him or her to look like? What can you do to help the spirit of Creston become the amazing, beautiful, glowing spirit it can be?