Reaching New Heights

MY VIEW -- It is no secret that Tallahassee is, and has been for a very long time a rather charming community. From her canopy roads, magnolia trees, Spanish moss, and antebellum homes Tallahassee has all of the charms that make for lovely postcards. Tallahassee's schools are top notch, parks are the best in the nation, and neighborhoods in residential areas of the city are safe and clean.

"Why should Tallahassee change? Things are perfect the way they are! We don't need to grow. I like our little small town".

The above are the comments I received from lifelong Tallahasseeans some time ago at work as I expressed some excitement about the new High Rise Development downtown. I was taken back at the backwards thinking of my co-workers. I knew they were much older than myself, but how can it be that we don't all want to see Tallahassee enhance herself. Is there that much of a generational divide in this community?

Truth of the matter is many people in Tallahassee don't view the growth and development as positive progress, these people are normally older and well established within the community. They feel threatened at the thought of sharing the roads with more cars, or seeing property cleared to make way for a new building or as some have often said in the local newspaper, "paving paradise to put up a parking lot". For these people, undeveloped property is the only beautiful property, unless it's their own of course. Many who move to Tallahassee running from growth in larger Florida cities, seem to come to town with the idea to shut the door behind themselves, but is this fair considering the same people would not be here  if that was the attitude of those who preceded them?

Tallahassee can continue to grow and retain her Old Florida charms! Why should Tallahassee limit itself to those who fight the inevitability of change? Is it productive to complain about a weaknesses in the community and discourage acts to improve them? About a void in the fabric of our being and a patch to fill it?

Those resisting growth in Tallahassee are a much smaller group now than ever before, however, as long as they remain vocal, they drown out the voices seeking economic progress.

It is evident that the norm for a small group of people in this community is to not care about anything... unless of course it impacts them personally. But we should all care about the direction we're going as a community, because it does directly affect us, even those who are only here seasonally. God has truly blessed us with such a jewel as Tallahassee that we should continue to polish her until her luster shines, continue to look for ways to make her better, and continue to promote her as a community second to none. We've finally hit our stride in this community, we're cruising along -- now is not the time to stop.