Some people are just too stupid to get the point.
They think I bitch about Wickenburg’s questionable politics and its poor economy and its lack of decent paying jobs and its part-time population and its mediocre dining experiences because I don’t like Wickenburg.
Hell, if I didn’t like Wickenburg, I wouldn’t live here. My work is portable — I can live anywhere I want. But I live here.
I complain because I want Wickenburg to be the best it can be.
I want politics to be clean and politicians to vote according to the majority of their constituents. But if voters don’t know what’s going on, how can they change it?
I want to see businesses in every single storefront downtown, with visitors and residents strolling the sidewalks and doing business. But if people don’t notice the empty storefronts, how can they fill them?
I want businesses to come to Wickenburg to offer good-paying jobs for career-minded young people and the goods and services we need right here in town. But if people don’t see the problems with the local economy, how can they focus on fixing it?
I want new homes to be bought by people with their lives still ahead of them, people who can enrich our town with their participation in activities rather than complain about high prices and do all their shopping at Wal-Mart in Surprise. But if people don’t realize that our part-time population spends most of its money outside of town, how can we encourage businesses to keep them shopping in town?
I want good (or at least interesting) restaurants where I can get food I can’t cook at home, prepared better than I can make it myself. But if people don’t see the opportunities to meet this need, how can qualified people come forward and fill it?
The narrow-minded, stupid people in the Town government and the Chamber of Commerce just don’t get it. They think we should all sugar coat the truth and live with what we’ve got. They want to lure people in under false pretenses, like saying that Wickenburg is “the West’s most western town” (what a line of bull that is), without even trying to make their claims remotely true. They think we should ignore the forces that are stripping away whatever’s good about Wickenburg to turn it into just another mediocre Phoenix suburb.
And I won’t sit by quietly and watch that happen. Not in my town.
Now if only I could figure out how to draw them a picture.
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Maria, Maria, Maria
I welcome your honest nature and logical ideals to the trail of broken hearts.
You can’t change those that don’t want to be changed. Wickenburg is controlled by the greedy and served by the stupid.
Who are the greedy? Big, quiet money. MOST don’t live here when it’s hot. They live in Michigan, Connecticut and a host of other places. They earned their money the old fashioned way, inheritance. They are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and they come to Wickenburg for the very things you and I hate. They buy and sell those who are weak minded enough to do their deeds. I won’t name names here, but smart folks like you know who they are.
Who are the stupid? I won’t name names again. However, one rhymes with crooks, one is a real buddinsky plus a guest ranch owner here and there and countless other stooges who think that their “contributions” to Wickenburg are worth while.
Then there are those that sell their souls for a chance to get rich through rapid development. ZZ Top (c’mon you know who I mean), the ex-car dealer and few other low key players. Nobody ever opposes what those guys are up to.
What is the number one industry in Wickenburg? Turnover. People come to Wickenburg. They decide it is the town they have been looking for. They sell everything and move here. They buy/start a business. Real estate commission. They buy a new home. Fast forward six to twelve months: Business failed. No money, close to personal insolvency. Sell home and leave in shame. Another real estate commission! How many towns the size of Wickenburg have so many damned real estate agents? NONE! Turnover. Granted, most people that start a business in Wickenburg couldn’t draft a business plan if it were formatted like Mad Libs. A dumb idea without a business plan seems simply brilliant to the average dumbass.
Let’s not even get started on wasting downtown assets on a certain holy high roller.
Maria, Wickenburg has always been this way. Countless people before you have tried to make a difference with less than zero success. The only satisfaction is that all the money in the world won’t stop encroacment from the valley. One day, Wickenburg will be across the street from Surprise or Peoria. The big multigenerational players that kept Wickenburg “Western” will move on to a new low-key winter spot and leave the rest to suffer. It is the lucky few like you and, perhaps I, that can pick up and go with little difficulty.
Pandering. That is what Wickenburg is about. Well that, crooked politics and backward ass thinking. I do like what you’re doing. Since your livelihood are not tied to Wickenburg, they can’t hurt you. That will frustrate the hell out of them. All you have to do is read buddinsky’s condescending post to know you’re getting under his snake like skin. Piss them off! I’m on board for the ride.
That’s enough for now. My little fingers are hurting.
Destiny, I must know you — perhaps I don’t. If not, we do need to meet.
If you feel compelled, use the Contact Me link to drop me a line. I’m working on a few projects you might be interested in. Your identity is safe with me.
And thanks for the support. As long as I’m here, I’ll keep doing what I do. If we can convince the right people to do the right things here, we can make some progress in the RIGHT direction. That’s all I ask.
Wow! I was researching the name Langer and amazed that I came upon this sight. Moved West from the South several years ago and in travels about was taken by your town. Glad I read your post. I am thinking that maybe many Western Towns are similar. Love the climate but wonder what in under the surface. Contact me, Maria,
if you wish.