Why can't we?

So I've run off with my wife since we've got a week of kidlessness and weren't able to celebrate our anniversary last month with everything going on.  We choose a town not much bigger than our own to visit. Yes, we go to Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, Houston and San Antonio sometimes, but when we want to get away, we generally pick some place small to visit.

This time wasn't far, and it wasn't new to us either.  We went to visit our friends Skip and Kate at 2 Wee Cottages up in Fredericksburg.  If you ever want a fantastic get away then I would recommend going to visit them.  Along with all the privacy you can mustard up, you're blocks from the center of town.  You have your own cottage, with a hot tub I might add.  But it's not just that, it's the food fairy that visits often.  You leave to take a stroll downtown and some succulent delight could be awaiting you when you return.  Then at night time your morning breakfast is scurried over to awake you.  If you can wait till breakfast to eat the steaming hot delights your taste buds will never quite be the same. We only make it about 1/2 the time till morning to eat breakfast.  If you call to make reservations mention my name and Skip and Kate will take care of you (she will anyway, but she generally has a something extra waiting for you when you are referred)

But I digress.

So we run over to Fredericksburg, a town that is less that 2000 larger than we are.  My suspicions are that during the months between summer and the start of hunting season this place is less than Gonzales in size.  Another words, without transient residence they are no bigger than we are.

As we drove the streets this weekend, and even this Monday, they are packed.  There are no parking spaces downtown, and the stores are all hustling and bustling with business.  So I asked myself, why can't we become the next Fredericksburg. 

You know the place people want to come, and visit and shop around. To come stay at the B & Bs and spend 2, 3, 4 or even more nights in our city. 

So I looked long and hard at downtown where most of the action is. Here's what I saw.

1) I see restaurants.  Yes there are the obligatory German restaurants, but there are many others.  You want a good, and I mean good steak, it's here!  I can think of at least 2 restaurants that you could get a good steak at The Navajo Grill or the Cabernet Grill will fill that bill for you.  You want a good home cooked meal.  No problem, how about Wheelers or Andys?  You want sandwiches? Guess what, they are here too.  It's not all one type of restaurant that makes this place tick.  And yet somehow they play upon their ethnicity to make the place thrive.  Don't we have a huge Czech and Spanish background in our city? And for the record they have liquor by the drink available at the nicer establishments. 

2) I see businesses that are open, and supporting the community. But they don't stop there.  There isn't many of the places we went to that didn't have a huge internet presence.  Chocolat ships around the world.  They don't rely purely on local business.  The Olive Shop is no different.  Their store front is small, but they don't care.  What the store provides is an outlet to their internet business.  Amish furniture, toys, jewelry, Christmas ornaments and everything else here is for sale on the internet.  So the business comes to town without ever leaving the comfort of their home.  Now I've spoken to at least one business owner in town that would like to have a web presence, but thinks his brother in law can do it. That's small town thinking! You're competing against the world now, so you have to think that way.  Yes, it will cost you, but your ROI has unlimited possibilities if you find that niche. 

3) I see a Chamber that is pushing the town in a manner which draws people near.  They have billed it as a quaint little town to come visit. It's something the entire town has gotten behind and built.  Now we could go multiple ways with our backgrounds.  A great Czech town or the best Hacienda you'll ever visit.  Either way works, but we have to pick one and go with it. And not just for this year, it will take time to get the word out, but it will.

4) I see a city where the roads are maintained in town, trash is picked up, and overall there is an air of inviting anyone that would like to visit.

So my questions is why can't we?  Why is it that Gonzales couldn't have the social economic environment that Fredericksburg has brought to the county? Are we just so small in our thinking that we can't realize that the stagnation that is occurring will only kill our little town?  You can not stand still like so many have told me they want. You are either moving forward or you're moving backwards. It's just the facts. 

So am I just missing all the town hall meetings asking why are we not moving forward?  Why have so many businesses in downtown closed down?  Why we can't seem to get a real and consistent flow of outsiders to our quaint little town?  We're not talking about spending $5,000,000 in tax payers money, we're talking about encouraging business to thrive in our community.  We're talking about showing them how to make a living selling the specialties they have to the rest of the world.  We have so many great ideas in Gonzales, and it seems like we just can't get them going.

So my question is why can't we?  Why can't we build up to have the same pull as so many others have before us?

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser