Lamar County tops heap in area joblessness

I don't think the issue is that they don't want anything to grow. I think they are scared that change, née progress, will happen so fast that no one will remember them or the legacy of their generation. I think we would, in fact, do just the opposite. We learn from history and we would benefit greatly from the lessons of our elders in order to grow in a more healthy way. We just can't overstep anyone; older community members included.

Harsh words and accusatory tones will get this town nowhere though. It is all about dialogue. They talk, we listen. We talk, they listen.

I'll be happy to start.

There are things for young people to do in Barnesville. I think a more correct statement would be there is no variety of things for young people to do in Barnesville and neither is there anything for them to do in the evenings nor is there a place for older teens to go on a date or a night out with friends without driving an excessive amount of miles.

Growth has been hindered though in recent years with the addition of trite zoning laws, antiquated public policy, neighborhood ordinances, etc. I will not blame this on older adults but I will not allow anyone to tell me this is not a plague in our community.

A proper ROI is speculative at best. In an economy like this no venture will truly fly unless privately funded by someone with deep enough pockets to sustain substantial initial loss. In an ideal setting though I would love to see the old Ingles turned into a bowling alley/video game hall/skating rink type of facility. I do not know the cost of the building although I can imagine it being somewhere around 1.2 million or so. This may include some tax incentives or financing options. Renovation would come in at another 5 or 6 hundred thousand. Marketing would come at a cost of nearly 15 thousand. The list goes on. A large venture like this would run probably near 3 million dollars with an operating expense that cannot clearly be defined. However, it is better than an empty building, it keeps teens off the street, it is a venue other people could come to (from other municipalities), etc.

There are small ventures, for sure. Before we can begin to see growth like that though we may need to reexamine our current alcohol/restaurant policy, the whole "Main Street closed on Wednesdays" thing, tax incentives, a legitimate SBA, etc.

I have thought a lot of this through 'Timothy.' If only I had seed money or could find investors with vision.

Perhaps I didn't explain myself enough. I have thought about this a lot in the sense that I have thought about what a property like this would/could do for our city/county and what it might take to enter such a venture. I did not, however, say it was my dream. I have other aspirations. I alone cannot start every business that may fill a need in the city. Without passion for something one might as well not even try. Therefore, I politely decline.

I do not want a materials expert. I do not even like bowling personally. It was, at best, an example. I have started and sold two businesses already as you may or may not have read in my personal bio. I began my career early in Silicon Valley and soon moved into media where I began and sold a media venture which is still a revenue generating enterprise.

I came back home to Barnesville after having lived fast and hard in the business world. I needed rest and escape and a reevaluation of personal priorities. That does not mean, however, that I would not serve on a Board of Advisors or even consult on a venture that someone else did have passion for.

I do hope you understand and don't find me to be administering advice that I am not willing to take myself.

You are absolutely right. You may or may not remember that I brought this argument up when we broke the article about how much money Gordon supposedly added to the Barnesville economy. Some folks felt as if them spending money at McDonalds, Hardees, Ingles, Wendy's, etc. was enough contribution to the local economy and standard of life. I heartily disagreed and basically got lambasted. I was told we are not Athens, ATL, or Tallahassee or any other college town. I have since given thought to it.

No, we are not like any other college town. We were not built BY the college. We have been around and have a beautiful legacy. The college settled here and brought about a wonderful, eclectic group of students that we have the capacity to tap right into to.

We allowed our movie theatre (The Ritz) to become dilapidated and then torn down. We have a coffee shop that is great but closes at 4pm and is not open on weekends. We have a few fast food stops and a few restaurants for those that like fried chicken and/or BBQ.

What would be nice to see are:

Smoothie shop
Late night coffee shop
T-shirt / metropolitan boutique
Ice Cream shop
Full service copy shop with computers
Newsstand with magazines and newspapers
Tapas/Wine bar
Bike/Skateboard shop

I am just free thinking here but at this point, what is wrong with thinking outside of the voice and doing a little free thinking?

Does anyone else have any ideas? How do we go about organizing our thoughts and thinking about the future of the city?

And what is one of the things I am getting at 'Anonymous.' How do we go about building a rapport between the political structures and the community, at large. If everything is illegal, we will get no where. We need to have our voices heard in the local political arena. The flip side to that is we can't get an inch only to have locals take a mile. If skateboarding is made legal downtown we can't have skaters destroying public or private property. We can't have them waxing up handrails and then chipping away at them with titanium trucks. There has to be a give and take.