Private Party

Very much narrow casting today, to (in general) New England, because that's where American History is made, and more specifically to where I live, the Rose of New England, Norwich, Connecticut. 

We, like many towns throughout the region, aren't suffering from Future Shock but, rather, Present Shock. When the textile mills went south, geographically, in the Fifties because of much cheaper labor (and then, in turn, in the New World Order, went overseas for even cheaper labor, we had no Plan B. 

Quite frankly, the manufacturing era is over. America doesn't make things anymore, aside from TikTok videos and MTV. We devalued and disassembled much of our education system to the point that we no longer have the skills or knowledge to apply for work, even if all the factories elsewhere came back here tomorrow.   

Here in Norwich, it means we have a Grand List mostly of residential properties because, despite all the brave talk, we are less than successful in attracting commercial and business enterprises. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're making progress, but not at a rate and pace that slows the annual mill rate increase on my house, which raises my mortgage payments to pay for taxes that fund the continuing crumbling infrastructure of every kind and constraints on public services.

What we do have is lots of old buildings, and by old, I mean the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century. In a perfect world, or even one just up I-395 a few exits, we'd have a plan for economic tourism that would complement intelligent development. The keyword is plan. Instead, we have hope.

I've been driving past this house since the day I moved to Norwich, over thirty-three years ago, and have watched many gallant and enthusiastic attempts to restore this structure. For all their efforts, and with all due respect to the artist's rendering above, this is what we have now.

This is, to me (unfortunately), TYPICAL Norwich. "Ready, Fire!, Aim." Another old building that has been determined to be historic and so must be 'preserved' but with no one else interested in buying it, the City of Norwich did, and now like the Mercantile Exchange, the Wauregan Hotel and the Reid & Hughes Building (to name just three) the city is in the real estate business, again. We were the dog that caught the car. And now what?

We're back to people buzzing about a developer fixing it up (somehow), but for what purpose and to what end? Where is the infrastructure for Norwich to effectively exploit historic tourism? We spend a lot of time talking about and still don't have a coherent or cogent plan to develop one. 

Neither of the two people nominated by their respective parties for the office of Mayor in this November's election has offered any specifics about anything they will do (or try to do) to improve our Grand List and the community's quality of life. Gibberish and generalities shouldn't be any way to run for office, but look nationally and do not be surprised. 

With apologies to Andy Dufresne, while Hope is a good thing, hope is NOT a plan, and what's needed now, perhaps more than at any time since I've lived here, is a plan. And the courage to implement it.
-bill kenny