THE WASHINGTON COUNTY RENAISSANCE

 

I am having a strong case of déjà vu.  In the mid 60s I was a teenager living in a small town in Hunterdon County New Jersey.  Life was idyllic, no one locked their doors and dairy farms filled the landscape. In 1967 a New York City television station started a Candid Camera knock-off show and came “out to the country” to interview some of our established families, including my father, the local postmaster.  There was an attempt at “Green Acres” humor with references to hicks and hayseeds, to entertain the big city folks.

Several years later a major interstate was completed through the middle of Hunterdon County and our New Jersey farm lands became a NYC bedroom community.  Within a decade it was difficult to find a cow or hick among the plots of large suburban homes and the campuses of fortune 500 companies. In 2012, Hunterdon County N.J. was listed as having the sixth highest per capita income in the United States.

I can sense the same tensions and energy in Washington County that my family talked about during the transition of my childhood home.  There are the same regrets and sadness from older residents and excitement among the young.  There is a similar outpouring of new construction, both residential and commercial. As in my hometown, farmers are selling out to become overnight millionaires. One can sense a shift from a laid back style of living to a more hurry-up, frantic pace.

The economic boom we are experiencing will involve major changes in population, politics and standard of living.  Washington County will become more Hispanic, following the trend in Eastern Pennsylvania.  It will become more Republican as the population becomes wealthier.  It will become more gentrified as the farms, small businesses and hamlets disappear.

My hope is that the established local families of Washington County, those whom trace their roots back over centuries, will hold their own in the fabric of the new Washington renaissance.  This was not the case in my hometown, where outside interests quickly eclipsed the locals and took over the reins of government and community life.  Something valuable will be lost if our residents who know best where Washington County came from are not an integral part in where it is going.

A second concern is that our leadership is able to manage the transition with vision and empathy for all of our citizens.  Washington County must not be permitted to grow like a sprawling Wild West oil town that quickly explodes and later fizzles out after the shale rock is fracked dry.  Responsible planning is the key, with the drillers working with us for the long term and not in their own interests.

 Lastly, our most disenfranchised citizens must be permitted to proportionately share in the economic growth through education, jobs programs and social services.  A renaissance need not be window dressing.  If managed with care, it can make our community a national model for renewal.