They do so to stay prosperous and keep their appreciative guests coming. To keep their economy thriving, the wise folks in Solvang’s local government and businesses identify, support, prioritize and invest resources into the unique aspects of their community that account for the many visitors drawn to them. By nature any small-town economy is more fragile than the economy of a larger city which may have a wider scope of industry and visitor venues. It too is a small town with a tourist-centered economy. I recall my several trips to Solvang, California -“the Danish capital of America,” which has a 2022 population of 5,896. The people, their doings and their histories, gave to them a singular character which larger towns often lack. My travels have taken me to wonderful small towns of which interesting stand-out attributes imparted an appeal greater than larger cities. After a brief weekend or a vacation in Manistee, travelers return home and realize that - for the time they were here - it was possible they could have it, and they did. Our community embodies a sense of simpler, lovelier, friendlier lives of life and times that most visitors - if it were possible - would want for themselves. Most people have jobs that provide very few vacation days a year.Ĭhain-stored, strip-malled, boring block-shaped-building filled, asphalt-and-concrete surrounded, high-density-housed vacationers do not seek out other “chain-stored, strip-malled, boring block-shaped-building filled, asphalt-and-concrete surrounded, high-density-housed” places to spend the precious few recreation days per year they may have. It gives relief from and contrast to their urban lives. Manistee is exactly that kind of small town that the majority of the country’s and the state’s urban-dwelling population appreciate when they visit here. The Dempsey and Manistee were a breath of fresh air from years of closed-in urban life. Jan Peterson, one of my first guests who then became my indispensable and gracious partner, moved here from Grand Rapids. But when I settled here, I fell in love with the town even more than this lovely old home - now a museum and inn. Not without a little sadness, the civic and commercial decisions of recent history reveal to us that many Manisteeans underestimate Manistee’s charming character or are not consciously aware of the potential it possesses.īefore I purchased the historic James Dempsey Mansion on Maple Street, I had never heard of Manistee. To start, our local government would benefit from the sage advice found in the Economic Development Strategic Plan adopted by the enchanting small town of Solvang, California: “It’s important to remember that successful economic development planning requires that a community takes the ‘long view’.”
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