The search for new employees requires a snazzy sales pitch, not only for your business, but for the community at large. THE FLOOD of 2007 wreaked havoc on Iola, reducing our housing stock by 200, many in the south part of town.
That’s because college graduates, especially, know there’s more to life than just a job. Today’s recruitment package includes a community’s schools, healthcare facilities, recreation opportunities, shopping and dining venues, and, perhaps, its religious community.
For those of us who have grown up in these parts, we must stop recalling the Iola of yesteryear. It does little good to say a century ago Iola had a population of 12,000 thanks to the gas and zinc industries. Or to say with a wistful sigh that six men’s clothing stores once dotted the square.
That kind of talk makes us sound as if we don’t believe it’s worth getting out of bed.
In Sunday’s Kansas City Star is a feature on Greensburg, the town in western Kansas flattened by an EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007, just shortly before our massive flood.
The story of its recovery is sobering.
Today, Greensburg has a population of 800, a little more than half of its 1,450 population of almost seven years ago.
With its housing stock wiped out, young couples who rented and elderly couples who lived in homes long since paid off, could not afford to build anew. Instead, they moved away.
Before the tornado, a three-bedroom home could be found for $50,000-$60,000, much the same as in Iola today. To build anew, the same square footage costs three times as much.
Greensburg deserves much credit for reinventing itself as a “green” community. Ten wind turbines power the town’s energy needs. Its new buildings have won critical acclaim for being LEED Platinum certified for their energy efficiency.
A new movie theater sports a 55-foot-wide screen and has a seating capacity of 400, sure to draw crowds from afar. The building will also serve as a high school auditorium and town convention center.
Perhaps that will be the ticket to entice new industries to locate there.
The point is, Greensburg is turning over every leaf in its efforts to survive.
We’ve somewhat rebounded — including ways we daren’t dream.
A total of 85 new homes will have been built in the Cedarbrook and River Valley Homes division on North Cottonwood Street.
Believe it or not, Iola has a lot of untapped potential.
For one, we have tree-lined streets that Greensburg would kill for.
Second, we have an incredible stock of beautiful old homes that can be purchased for a bargain and with a little elbow grease returned to glory.
Third, several downtown buildings with tons of history are there for the waiting. A building in good repair on the Iola square rents for about 70 cents a square foot — 1,000 square feet for $700 a month — according to a local developer.
Don’t think there’s a return on the investment?
Look no further than Water Valley, Miss., a sleepy little city of 4,000, that has turned its eyesores into eye-catching storefronts and homes, galleries and restaurants.
It all began about 10 years ago when people in their 30s were drawn to the town’s aesthetic appeal coupled with its low commercial rents and inexpensive housing stock.
The revival was declared a bona fide success when a grocery store featuring locally grown food opened in 2010.
Has Water Valley boomed? No, but in the eyes of its residents it’s become the best little hometown in the country. You can’t buy enough marketing to tell that same message.
Iola has a state-of-the-art hospital, a successful community college, a stellar fine arts center, and possibly, hopefully, new schools on the horizon.
We are the hub to an amazing rail trail system that winds through the countryside, new parks and an array of activities.
In short, we are on the path to becoming a place where people want to live.
Sometimes it’s we — not outsiders — who need the convincing.
— Susan Lynn
Small town revival includes recalibrating our own perspectives
