Decline and Disbelief

"The first shot sounded like a firecracker. I looked over and saw him. I could tell that he was hit. I don't know why I didn't react. I should have reacted. I just couldn't believe it."
--Frank Horrigan (In the Line of Fire)

While visiting my old stomping grounds last year, I penned a series of missives to capture the decline of the area over the past decade or so. A couple were retrospecitve (here, here), one more or less descriptive of present conditions as seen thru my eyes via drivebys, and another theorized about key causes behind the decline.

My return this year finds further decay. I just drove by one of the mills managed by my former roommate that was shutdown a few months back. No cars in the lot, not smoke/steam from the stacks, gates padlocked, grounds overgrown. Ghostly.

Once the mill shut, my roomie left the company in search of greener pastures. In fact, over the past six months, three other friends at the division manager level or higher have jumped ship.

I count more empty storefronts this year, and more lots where stores once stood. Today, while dining at a local restaurant that basically fed me for years during my tenure, I learned that the mini-mall building that housed the establishment is to be demolished. The restaurant owners hope to relocate but have no firm plans.

While jogging this morning I saw houses for sale that had been for sale last year. Plus more for sale signs. Parks, streets, and other infrastructure are rough around the edges. Lots of weeds.

Population is certainly lower. Just roughing it using data picked quickly off the web, 2008 pop for Stevens Point was 25,327, 2010 pop = 24,160 (altho again may not be apples to apples). When I left in the mid 1990s I believe Point's pop was about 30,000.

The younger and working age demographic has to be sliding in synch w/ declining economic opportunity.

My brain continues to have trouble processing what is compared to what once was. I am convinced more than ever that this situation didn't have to happen.