For some time now, the notion has been taken that we in Cookeville should launch a concerted effort to attract more retirees to the area in order to grow the local economy. As a cheerleader for community progress, I welcome anything that will bring healthy growth. If attracting aging boomers is the motivation we need, so be it.

Last week, the Cookeville Council took the first step toward earning the American Association of Retirement Communities' seal of approval. According to the AARC's website, the first step in the process is a show of official community support. In real terms this means that the city council must pass a resolution approving the retiree recruitment effort. Done.

When the AARC considers a town for its seal of approval, they examine nine areas, including medical services, housing, adult educational opportunities, shopping, recreational and cultural opportunities, crime rate and civic pride. By "civic pride," they mean things like the attractiveness of the entrances to town, the downtown area and the overall environment. In short, they are looking for curb appeal.

While we're courting the AARC for their approval, others are already judging us for the first time every day. Company executives, entrepreneurs and regular folks who might consider relocating here with their families are looking at us. These are people who could bring any number of talents, skills and abilities and jobs that would contribute to the community. Are we doing everything we can to make them want to live here and stay here?

Curb appeal is nice, but it is merely a first impression that can either be reinforced or reversed. What about after a family has been here for a year? Will they still love it or will they be ready to move on? If we want to make a lasting good impression, it's going to take more than just Bradford pear trees, new banks and chain restaurants near the interstate.

We all know that Cookeville is a wonderful place that enjoys a temperate climate, a low crime rate, quality schools, a central location, a university, affordable housing, and relatively low taxes. But as much as we appreciate what we have here, we aren't yet everything we ought to be.

If you're reading this, you probably know someone who moved to the Cookeville area because they were traveling through and fell in love with our small-town charm. But it's just as likely that you know of at least one person who, after moving here, left after a year or two. While each person has their own reasons for staying or leaving, perhaps we might consider a few areas that are sources of discontent for newcomers.

When I moved here ten years ago, one of the first things I noticed was that, until you become familiar with the streets, it's not easy to get where you're going. Cookeville streets are plagued with bunched-up red lights, off-set intersections, missing turn lanes, multiple or duplicate street names, poor signage, short-visibility intersections and unmarked parking entrances. For me, the problem was further compounded because even if I generally knew where I was going, it wasn't always easy to find the exact place I was looking for.

When a person is new to an area, they usually rely on street names and building numbers to find specific locations. For that matter, so do emergency services and delivery drivers. In Cookeville, navigation by names and numbers is difficult because many street signs are missing or obscured and building numbers are either missing, in the wrong place or so small that they cannot be read from the street. Believe it or not, a lot of folks have no idea where the big oak tree, the old high school or the old Rose's is. They need to see street signs and address numbers.

Another thing I observed was the lack of safe sidewalks and bike paths. As a kid growing up out west, I was accustomed to being able to walk or ride most anywhere in town on a sidewalk or a bike path. I'll admit that I'm not as outdoorsy as I once was, but for anyone who walks or rides for pleasure, for exercise or out of necessity, sidewalks and bike paths are a big deal.

We’ve made a little progress in this regard over the last ten years, but we have a long way to go before we're anywhere close to adequate. Many of our sidewalks are impassible for wheelchairs and difficult for pedestrians because they drop off abruptly at driveways and intersections. Others are unsafe because they are narrow, inches from the road and/or have obstacles like utility poles in the middle of them. In many places, there are no sidewalks at all. As for bike paths, they are nearly non-existent and most rural roads have no shoulders so riding there is risky at best.

For those who were born and raised here, amenities like user-friendly streets, sidewalks and bike paths might seem insignificant because it's always been that way. But for a transplant who is trying to adjust to a new town and a new way of life, the fact that Cookeville was allowed to grow for years with no comprehensive long-term plan for orderly growth and traffic management is as plain as the trunk on the pink elephant.

Forgive me if I seem like I'm complaining. I'm not. I must like it here because I've stayed this long and plan to stay a lot longer. I realize that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither can Cookeville be fixed in a day. But Rome was built with a plan. Perhaps there's a lesson there.

Jonathan Williams
Cookeville, Tn