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PLYMOUTH — All it took for me to realize my hometown is in dire need of revitalization were some photos taken last week by photographer Butch Comegys.
Just look at all those utility poles and wires and old buildings in need of attention.
As proud as I am to say I grew up in Plymouth, I am deeply saddened by the starkness of its current run-down condition.
And town officials are trying to do something about it. They announced this week that they are working with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center to develop a strategic plan and vision to revitalize Main Street.
I don’t know what the criteria are for securing funding for this project, but the photos more than justify the need.
This is the same town that comes alive every August for the annual Kielbasa Festival. The sidewalks along Main Street are packed with people seeking good food, entertainment and fun. The Plymouth Alive organization found a way to revitalize Plymouth at least for a couple of days each year.
This proves the point that if you build it, they will come. Look what has happened in other small towns like Luzerne and Pittston. It takes good planning and it takes funding. Let’s hope Plymouth can follow their lead.
Revitalization is not needed only in Plymouth — the region can use a good dose of it as well. Everywhere you go these days the roads are riddled with potholes, bridges are in need of repair, storefronts are empty, neighborhoods are run-down.
Towns like Plymouth are suffering all over Pennsylvania and if something isn’t down and done soon, we will all be looking at relocating. It won’t be just a “brain drain” where we lose our college graduates — we will begin losing our long-term residents and businesses to much greener and better paved pastures.
Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed his Restore Pennsylvania program which would raise some $4.7 billion dollars through the enactment of a severance tax on the gas drilling industry. Wolf, a Democrat in his second term, has not been able to convince the Republican-controlled legislature to agree with the severance tax.
Wolf has presented a good argument and he has taken his Restore Pennsylvania campaign across the state to try to gain constituent support for the program. Wolf hopes residents/voters will urge their state representatives and senators to get behind Restore Pennsylvania.
When Wolf came to Wilkes-Barre to announce the program, I asked him where else he could get $4.7 billion to address the states’s infrastructure problems if the severance tax doesn’t get passed and his response was a very honest “I don’t know.”
So without some new yet-to-be found revenue stream, what will happen to our roads and bridges and places like Plymouth’s Main Street?
To quote our governor, “I don’t know.”
Plymouth plans to hold a series of meetings to gather input from residents, businesses and organizations to help form a strategy to continue to improve the community as whole.
Borough officials hope to draft a plan to know exactly what the community wants to see when it comes to making improvements on Main Street and throughout the borough.
Plans are good — but to implement them, funding is needed.
I really want Plymouth to revitalize its Main Street. I want it to be a Kielbasa Festival atmosphere every day. I want it to return to those halcyon days of old when businesses were open, shoppers were walking from store to store and life was good.
It was like that you know, at one time long ago. Your hometown was the same. But what are our hometowns like today? Can they be saved? Can they be revitalized? Can our roads be paved? Can our bridges be repaired? Can we expect any of this to happen? And soon?
In Pennsylvania and in Washington D.C., we need leadership. We need elected officials who will do all they can to effect positive change, regardless of who came up with the idea and regardless of any perceived political consequences.
It’s time for the return of statesmanship in our elected officials. We need them to stop being beholding to special interests and multi-billion dollar lobbyists.
We the people are most special. We are the ones who should be the priority when making any decision.
Then we can all walk proudly with our heads held high down any Main Street.
