This may not be popular.
Folks often ask, “what do you like about living here” followed by “what concerns do you have for the future of The Greenbrier Valley”?
Actually, I am concerned about growth.
The geography of and around this precious high-mountain-valley has limited our development and I have always seen that as a natural positive. Many (including me) have worked hard to attract visitors that support CBD retail, restaurants, arts and hotels. Visitors like that we are small, but also rich in quality experiences; we are in a “good spot” now.
I get worried when the Visitors Center devotes two pages of their Experience Guide to “moving here,” when the WVSOM ends their community video with “stay for a lifetime,” when folks that don’t live here offer “financial incentives” for others to move here.
Be careful, many well intended marketers have killed the goose and lost the golden egg; it is an old story.
There are people, who I respect (some family), that say, “if you are not growing you are going backwards.” They have not lived long enough to experience the unrepairable downside of increased population.
Opinion by TAG Galyean, Architect and Designer of Destination Environments
