Let's all move to Easton!

Since I've already upset the Macon-Bibb Convention and Visitor's Bureau this week, I figure I might as well just go off some more.

(No, I do not hate the CVB, nor am I picking on them. They aren't the problem in Macon -- several bear that responsibility. Plus, I happen to LOVE Ginny, Ruth, Janice and all the other lovely ladies, but I'm pissed right now about the leadership and direction of Macon, and I'm about to tell you why. )

My interests sometimes swing wildly between opposite ends of the spectrum. Every spectrum. I'm a man of extremes, an ADHD-addled human pendulum. Right now, I want to move to Easton, PA. And I want you to move with me.

Here it is in a nutshell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easton,_Pennsylvania

If you knew me a few years ago, you know that I fell in love with Bulgaria and wanted my friends to set up a colony of Macon expatriates. Having been devastated financially by the fall of Communism and the Soviet Union, Bulgaria is a bastion of cheap booze, cheap smokes, cheap rent and cheap eats. It's also really pretty in springtime (and frigging cold in the winter). It was not really a noble daydream.

Well, my fiancee was an undergrad at LaFayette College, on the hill overlooking downtown Easton, which is why we were just there and how I fell for the place. In the last Census, the city (it's three townships and three boroughs) totaled a population less than 30,000 people.

Despite the much reported dwindling population, Macon (just the city, not including unincorporated Bibb) claims more than three times that number: 97,000.

Easton never abandoned its urban core. Even in the harsh economic reality of this recession, they only had a handful of empty storefronts or residential spaces open between the bustling and VERY historic downtown and its neighborhood on "The Hill".

And there's this: New York City is less than an hour and a half away. It's a $19 bus ride. Philly is about 70 miles away. Plus, Easton's homies in the Lehigh Valley, separated by about 30 minutes each, are Bethlehem (founded by Moravians, home to two colleges, and was the birthplace of The Rock, so you know it's cool) and Allentown, which is bigger than both.

It takes as long to get to Atlanta from Macon, and almost three hours to Savannah. Hardly the same, plus you pretty much have to drive because public transportation just isn't a priority in The South, so once you get to Atlanta or Savannah by bus, you'd be stuck. Not to mention it costs $32 bucks each way by Groome, which only takes you to the airport. A Greyhound ticket, if you feel like braving that bus station, is $27.

There is only one major celebrity from Easton, boxer Larry Holmes, and he still lives there. (Writer Stephen Crane is a LaFayette graduate, I'm told.) The community reached out to him and he's stayed invested, financially and in terms of marketing.

We have oodles of famous people from Macon, and none of them live here--nor can you imagine them doing so. Gregg Allman is in Savannah and Little Richard chose a little town in Tennessee. Someone is just now doing something with the Allman Brothers Big House (the non-profit Big House Foundation), it took about thirty years for an Otis Redding statue, and NO ONE HAS DONE SHIT with Little Richard's house, which is still standing. I dare you to find any other modern American legend who has been so ignored by his hometown. Find ONE thriving town and/or tourist location that hasn't marketed the hell out of their famed alumni.

Meanwhile, you'd think the only thing that's ever happened in Macon is a Cherry Blossom Festival. (Not to say it should cease but that there needs to be a major recasting of our image. SERIOUSLY. There is no place that can claim what Macon can claim from Sidney Lanier to Emmett Miller to Little Richard, James Brown, Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers, Mike Mills and Bill Berry of REM, Lucinda Williams, Lena Horne, Jimi Hendrix, as well as guys like two-time Oscar-winner Melvyn Douglass or acclaimed music writer Stanley Booth.)

Let me tell you what the heart of my hopelessness is: The majority of the things that we all like about Macon has been propped up by the private sector. The culture of this town has been heralded by? The 11th Hour, Bragg Jam, MaGa and a handful of other loose screws. The music heritage has been showcased by? Mostly by the above and the Ga Music Hall of Fame, which we're in SERIOUS danger of losing because our local officials won't fight for an institution that has 30,000 visitors a year (aka - enough to exceed the size of Easton, PA). The downtown area and all its charm? Kept alive by Mercer University, developers and non-profit organizations like Historic Macon, the Peyton Anderson Foundation, the Knight Foundation and NewTown Macon.

What has our city leadership been waiting on? Why are they so content with just REACTING to situations that arise instead of proactively looking for ways to improve our city? What vision do they have for Macon over the next five, ten, fifteen years? Do they even have ANY vision for it?

I know the private sector does. And it only took two days in tiny Easton for me to see that they have a vision for themselves. They know their resources, what they can be and what they want to be, and they've gone after it.

No, from what I can tell, their artists, musicians and other creatives aren't as edgy and interesting as Macon's. They have no real art or music scene to speak of. But remember that these things for Macon have developed of late, and quickly, and in spite of leadership that doesn't care, doesn't get it or doesn't want it. Plus, if you all move there with me, they'll have a killer scene!

Frankly, I love Macon and I don't ever want to leave... but only if I have enough reason to stay. I want to want to stay, and the powers-that-be aren't doing a real good job of making that happen--for me or anyone else. As I think about starting a family, I realize I'm not responsible just for myself. I'll be thinking about my wife and my kids. If things continue as they have, we will be faced with a situation where we won't be able to stick around waiting any more. We'll be deciding between struggling for change in Macon or going to a city that actually wants us.

That's what has me so mad.