By: Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
The sad reality facing small town rural America today is that those who are able often flee to larger cities for a higher quality of life and greater opportunity. This phenomenon of rural flight is especially true of the younger generations, who leave their small hometowns in search of more. They move to cities in pursuit of lucrative career prospects; greater opportunity for meeting a wide variety of people their age; and cultural, retail and restaurant amenities on which to spend their hard-earned paychecks. Unfortunately, the stigma is that small town living just can’t live up to these expectations.
Hartsville is not like most small towns. We are truly fortunate to have major employers who are very invested in our community. We are home to a host of unique educational institutions and initiatives. And perhaps most importantly, our citizens are engaged and passionate about constantly improving the quality of life for all who call Hartsville home.
Many people have worked very hard over the years to ensure that Hartsville does not go the way of so many of our sister cities, once booming developments that have faded into quiet ghost towns. Beau Dure in his article Why Millennials are Avoiding Small Town America says “small towns will have to rev up their sales pitch to convince young adults that they can live not just cheaply but also well in the places that older generations called home.” Current staff and administration work tirelessly to build on the momentum of our predecessors by innovatively leveraging available partners and resources to deliver a high quality of life uncommon in a town of our size.
This means investment in the infrastructure and aesthetics of our downtown. This means developing a climate that is attractive to new business (both large and small) so that we recruit new jobs and a unique offering of establishments for our citizens and visitors to enjoy. This means providing programming that engages all demographics of the community so that our residents build common ground and develop a sense of pride and place. In short, the decisions that we make today…the roads we rebuild, the decorative touches we add, the buildings that we improve, and the events that we plan, truly determine the future of our town.
To be content with the status quo of what a small town can and should be is to accept a death sentence. Yes, we your local government must ensure that a first responder comes when you call and that your trash is picked up and that you have potable water to drink. But we must also be so much more in order to retain and recruit a thriving and diverse population and the organizations who employ them and the retail and restaurant businesses they frequent. Americans today expect more and better, and we must rise to the expectation or fade into obsolescence. It really is that simple.
We have received much positive feedback on the recent downtown infrastructure improvements. The most recent addition of the “College Avenue Arch” adds greatly to the appeal of our prime retail and restaurant district and further develops a sense of place for patrons to enjoy and an important gateway to Coker College.
This obvious physical improvement is just one small piece of a very large puzzle. What some may view as a “fluff” project is critical to the continued development and promotion of Hartsville’s identity as a place in which people want to spend their time and money. It is the small things like quality signage and hanging planter baskets and lights strung across a once decrepit alleyway that all contribute to an improved resident and visitor experience. It is the small things that slowly amount to something much bigger: a place that people are proud of and a place that people choose to move to.
These small things complement the ever-growing arsenal of tools that we employ to improve our city, tools such as the revitalization of low-income neighborhoods, the creation of incentives to recruit new employers to the area, the investment in our parks and playgrounds to both attract visitors and encourage residents to be active and healthy, and our community’s ongoing investment in programs that ensure the well-being and success of our youth so that they may one day continue our work of making Hartsville the best city in America.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.