So many towns, big and small, become whatever they become as a result of circumstance. They may start out as one thing, years or centuries ago, and then through the many thousands of decisions piled up over time, the people in the community wake up one day to discover the town is something totally different than its initial intentions. Sometimes these changes make towns better; sometimes they turn them into ghost towns. And often, to take control of a town’s destiny, the community has to get together and make some tough decisions.

In the Washington town of Hoquiam do we have a fine example of these potential changes. At the mouth of the Hoquiam River, in Grays Harbor, Hoquiam grew from a lumber town to become a lovely small American town that, like other small American towns, is proud of its past. There’s the annual Loggers‘ Playday, there are logging competitions and parades; but is lumber going to be enough for this town?

Hoquiam’s waterfront is at the center of its ongoing discussion of how Hoquiam will grow in the coming years. The Hoquiam River flows through the city’s downtown, emptying into Grays Harbor, all in all a lovely natural feature and abundant with potential. A well-used waterway did good things for Baltimore, and practically put San Antonio on the tourist map. Is Hoquiam ready for waterfront dining and entertainment?

The Hoquiam waterfront had a precedent; in the 1980s it was a popular place to visit. Now that development has taken interest in the area, the community has to think seriously about who it is, and who it’s going to become. And how money is going to be spent to get it there.

Hoquiam is in a fine place at the mouth of the river, where the harbor ties the city to its watery history. Its proximity to Aberdeen, the rival city to the east, means any decision about growth has reverberating effects. Hoquiam’s decisions about what kind of city it wants to become will potentially unite or divide the region, meaning Hoquiam is the little sibling that has to be the grown-up.

Hoquiam’s real interest will be in negotiating its links to its history with the potential for future development. It’s delicate, this relationship — too much loyalty to the past can pre-empt a future, and too much enthusiasm about heading into the future can change a town into somewhere else entirely. For Hoquiam, the choices are many, important, and ultimately definitive.

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