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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 5, 2005 come on in ... The city’s fine Once again, national media extoll the virtues of living here — but to what end? By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland has done it again. Another round of “best of” lists has been announced and, as has been the case of late, Ashland has topped them once again. Money Magazine and CNN both dubbed it one of the best small towns in which to retire. Fortune called the area one of the safest in the country and America Online also featured the livability of the city. While all these accolades from the media are great for the local housing industry — local real estate agents say they often notice a direct connection between positive press and the volume of inquiries they receive — others worry that the attention is having an adverse effect on the livability of the small town they love just the way it is. “What more PR success does Ashland really need?” asked Bryan Holley, a member of the city tree commission who is concerned about the rate at which the city is growing. “If you’ve already hit a home run, what’s next?” Alice Hardesty concurred. She said it is high time for Ashland to start marketing itself differently. Seventeen years ago, while still living in Washington, D.C., she and her husband, City Councilor Jack Hardesty, read about Ashland in a book and bought a piece of property to retire to, sight unseen. “Even though that’s how I came here,” she said, “I think the time is over for that kind of advertisement. I wish the city and chamber of commerce would market us as family friendly.” As a member of the affordable housing commission, Alice Hardesty knows first hand how important it is to attract young families to Ashland. She said the city is in the midst of a “housing crisis” and if something is not done to alleviate the situation, the division between the haves and the have-nots will continue to escalate until Ashland’s working class can no longer afford to live in the city it serves. “We’re in a crisis here,” she said. “People with families and jobs can no longer afford to live here. Anything that encourages people to speculate on housing prices is very bad for our livability. It drives up housing prices and encourages people to live here who have no investment in the community.” The Ashland Chamber of Commerce, often cited for selling Ashland on its tourism and real estate but not its livability, is responding to these concerns. Sandra Slattery, the executive director of the chamber, said her organization has just finished a marketing brochure which it will use to attract new businesses and young families to Ashland. “It’s geared towards people who want to live and work here,” she said of the promotional material called Destination Ashland: Living and Doing Business in Ashland. “Ashland is not just a fantasy. It’s a real living and breathing economy. We need a healthy and vibrant economy that gives local people jobs and still maintains the small-town quality of life that we all love.” Slattery said the chamber is also redesigning its Web site to reflect this newfound commitment to attracting families to Ashland. The site still lists primarily services for senior citizens under the relocating to Ashland section. But she said the new site, which will be introduced this winter, will better reflect a commitment to attracting families and new businesses to Ashland. Graham Lewis, the newly elected president of the chamber, also said the organization has begun to develop relationships with technology writers in the same way it has worked with travel writers. What this will do, he said, is get Ashland in magazines such as PC and Wired, instead of just tourist-related publications. Hopefully, this would convince younger people working in the growing technology field to relocate to Ashland. “We want to show the advantages of living in a small town over the Bay Area,” he said. “We want people to realize that Ashland is more than just a tourist town.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. 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