Do you love Battleground? Many people do. I am not one of them. I would argue that you are probably not one of them either (even if you think you are).
I have a theory that when someone tells you that they love Battleground, what they mean is that they love a romantic idea of Battleground. The Battleground that they love has ceased to exist. It left long before Fred Meyer came to town.
I have lived in Woodland for 6 and 1/2 years. I love Woodland. We have all the small town appeal that is romanticized by the masses. In many ways, we are more like the "Battleground" that you love than Battleground.
When I was a kid we used to ride our bikes from Hockinson to BG. I loved that Battleground. It was Safeway, Burgerville, a high school, a library, Rocky's Pizza, and Dicks Tire Factory. And, later, it was McDonalds too.
In Woodland we currently have a McDonalds, a Burgerville, a pizza place, a High School, a Library...sound familiar? We even have a burgeoning population of Old Apostolics. We are enjoying the fruits of small town SW Washington longed for by our easterly neighbors.
According to City-data.com Battleground's population has increased 84.8% since 2000. In 2009 the population was over 17,000. Compare this to Woodland's population of 5,300 (again for 2009). All those people... And, trying to use infrastructure that was built to accommodate 7,000. Battleground is a mess. It grew too fast, and spent too little planning for that growth.
The Battleground of today is a frustrating quagmire of strip malls and failing retail. The traffic is fantastically terrible. Ask one of BG's cultish followers about traffic, and even the faithful will bob their heads in agreement over it's barbarous nature.
During my short (second) stint living in BG I was excited to see growth. I was thrilled when we got Albertson's and Hollywood Video. I thought it was what I wanted. It was the beginning of the end for that little hole in the map.
In case my arguments were wholly persuasive, I should add a proviso. I feel we may be on the cusp of the same mistakes in Woodland. I was excited to be getting a drive-thru Starbucks and a Walmart, but I pray that our city planners will be more wise about the coming years than their counterparts in the big BG. I think that either way we are in the twilight of our golden years.
Hey, there is always La Center...
- Posted from my iPhone
