Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509190014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANNA FARIELLO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Identity is a visioning process that defines and molds development from within. It is a process that facilitates self-determination. As children, we patterned ourselves after adults who possessed characteristics we one day hoped to hold as our own.
As a society, our identity is formed by the very same process.Its formation, however, is much more complex, given the new challenges that continually redefine our society, reshaping our thoughts and ourselves more quickly than we can incorporate change into a new vocabulary of self.
We view the past through an idealized lens. I know I yearn for the romantic vision of pastoral life. Rightfully, we look to tradition for those values which still hold meaning today.
But to truly progress, we must clearly examine the implications of applying traditional ways of doing things to contemporary culture. While the past may provide inspiration, it can also trap us within the parameters of its well-defined vision.
Southwestern Virginia will develop, one can be certain of that. There is no holding back time or the tide of progress.
In the past, development throughout Appalachia was at the hands of entrepreneurial industrialists who had no stake in the region, save its economic potential. It is important that we take matters into our own hands and become the shapers of our region's destiny.
When Disney was looking at Virginia as home to its new theme park, I cringed. Would Disney become a contemporary coal baron creating false stereotypes to enhance its own commercial success?
I am relieved we have time to develop our own concept of community, a community we will build for our grandchildren. There are many types of industries that would appreciate what our region has to offer in the way of land mass, labor pool and access. But do we want to be the next Orlando - or Detroit? Do we really want a waste dump? A power plant? A prison? A race track? A casino?
How will a regional identity help us thrive as we enter the new millennium? We are faced with what appears to be a dilemma - progress vs. tradition, economic development vs. environment, views usually considered inharmonious. There are many who are eloquently on one side or the other, and we appear more polarized than ever. This "either-or" thinking hasn't led to any real answers, and instead keeps us circling on the merry-go-round of stagnant thinking. It is time we try a new equation, to seek the solution that embraces both concepts.
We are blessed with some of the most beautiful natural resources in our country. Tourists come with little encouragement. They come - not to see what we've made, but to see what we've left alone. We must do the best we can to develop industries that complement and preserve our environment. The Blue Ridge Parkway provides a perfect model. While it was surely a massive development project for its day (which continues to attract tourist dollars), it was designed to enhance rather than exploit the environment.
Likewise, we have long since valued the strength of our region's colleges and universities as employers and stewards of our community. Today we have the capacity to continue this tradition.
The renovation of hotel facilities benefit our business communities; the expansion of medical facilities will benefit our retired citizens; and the development of greenways will benefit our families.
Among the most popular "non-natural" attractions are our arts and cultural institutions, key ingredients in the tourist/economic development equation. Only a few states have made this conceptual link, like Handmade in America, an initiative in western North Carolina that hopes to strengthen its tourist industry based on the creativity of its citizens. New thinking preserves tradition and the environment, and brings economic prosperity to our region.
One of the most common traps in community visioning is this assumption that economic development is in direct opposition to preservationist concerns, be they historic or environmental. Perhaps until now, this assumption held true. Today it is an outmoded concept.
The set of givens confronting the New Century Region is unique to our history. Under these new circumstances, economic development and preservation go hand in hand. Only by coming to terms with both can we effectively forge a viable identity that will ensure a premium quality of life for citizens in the region.
Anna Fariello, director of galleries and an associate professor at Radford University, has a research interest in the place of culture within the context of community.
Editor's note: The New Century Council, a citizens' effort to craft a 20-year strategic vision for the region, this summer issued a 250-page report filled with ideas and proposals.
Among those ideas, discussed here by Anna Fariello, director of galleries at Radford University: the notion that the region should be "among the most desirable places in the world to live and work."
Toward that end, the report recommends preservation of "the region's beauty, natural and historic resources, and countryside"; creation of "a positive regional identity"; and creation of "sustainable development while planning and coordinating growth to enhance the region's quality of life."
This is one in an occasional series of commentaries by people with particular interest in specific ideas in the report.
by CNB