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Well I don't know what you want.
The annual rodeo is always this time of the year. I will assume you are not satisfied with it anymore and it does not bring back any memories for you.
And we attended the annual 4th fireworks display here in Prescott last night. OK, it was only 30 minutes. Maybe that's all the city could afford?
I still thought is was quite nice and typical to above typical smaller town display
You might want to get a clue that the leaders of this community are not interested in the past, only running the city for what it is today. Just the facts that you have to deal with.
And tourism is one of the things they like that brings quite a bit of money to the area so they go after that too.
I don't' like all the tourists and for the most part avoid the crowds on weekends but I know that they in turn help pay a lot of bills for the city.
You cannot go back in time. Deal with what life deals you and remember the fond memories of the past.
It's about your only choice unless you want to get involved in politics yourself and try to make a change~~~and good luck on that.
As with most things in life, they are ruined by greed, corruption and poor planning. Prescott could have grown and done so in a manner that would not entirely destroy its historic roots. That was not the case.
Most of the problems that plague Prescott are not due to today's economy. They were plaguing Prescott back before the economy fell.
Most of the old time residents despise what has happened to Prescott. I would easily say that currently the town is about 50% split on the issue. Back in the 90's it was more like 80% were against the growth.
Moderator cut: removed deleted quote You don't have to get testy. As I, my friend and that letter-to-the-editor have merely pointed out, I'm not the only one who feels as I do - and some do much more bitterly.
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And tourism is one of the things they like that brings quite a bit of money to the area so they go after that too.
I imagine more than one tourist comes to Prescott (especially on the 4th) expecting to see a western town and receive a western experience (as my friend did before the 90's) - and they get rock music and a crafts fair instead.
Maybe there's nothing the city can - or wishes - to do about it, I just think that's sad.
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Prescott could have grown and done so in a manner that would not entirely destroy its historic roots. That was not the case.
Amen to that.
Last edited by Kimballette; 07-05-2011 at 01:53 PM..
Reason: removed deleted quote
For what it's worth, here's why I like Prescott.....(I'm from a large racially polarized urban area with a huge ghetto that sucks the life out of the rest of the region like an evil vortex...)
The climate. I'm sick of the winters of my "home" state and like the seasonal and daily temperature change of Prescott. No way I'd want to live in the valley. I like the idea of being able to ride my motorcycle year-round.
The people. I don't care where they came from or whether they have 5 generations of ancestors in the local cemetery, they just seem nicer on a per capita basis than the people where I'm from and they don't seem to take themselves too seriously. Most of them anyway.
The town square set up. Reminds me very much of the nicer areas where I grew up in the midwest. I don't particularly like southwest style architecture.
The women are pretty good-looking in general.
Re: "The History". The history is in the past (sorry to state the obvious). More people have to accept that because a town that does not grow, change and adapt will die. This is not unique to anywhere. If my home town was able to stay the way it was pre WWII, I'd decide to stay there in a minute. Even if nothing in the town of Prescott had changed, many people would be longing for yesteryear and that can never be preserved or retained except in peoples' minds and the local historical society. That's not good and it's not bad, it's just the way it is. There's nothing wrong with preserving the memories and customs but people who try to live in the past are most often pretty miserable. Make your memories and cherish them but realize you really don't have long on this earth so make the most of it and if you can't embrace or accept change then at least learn to live with it and understand it.
Here's what I DON'T like. Homeowners' associations. I didn't like them when I worked in municipal government and I don't like them now. All too often the people who volunteer to "serve" their neighbors as officers on these boards do so out of a need for authority and attention and credibility. Like politics, it seems that the best people for these positions refuse to accept a position because, like politics, they don't want to deal with the nonsense. If Prescott had more neighborhoods without HOA's I bet more houses would sell for more money.
Here's something else I don't like: It seems like EVERYBODY, or at least a whole bunch of people, wanted to get their hands in my pocket. There were many times where I met someone and struck up a conversation and the next thing I know they're pushing a business card off on me. Seems like a lot of people weren't giving me advice or pointers just to point me in the right direction, but rather because they were getting a commission from the guy they were pointing me to! I may be totally wrong on this but I have a pretty good BS detector and this is the impression I got.
Cowboy hats: I went around town wearing a baseball hat, a t-shirt and jeans. I saw people with CA accents or NYC accents, wearing cowboy hats, boots and little chrome tips on their collars. Huh? They looked ridiculous. Then again, they probably thought I looked ridiculous but I know I wasn't trying to dress up like someone I wasn't and I also knew darn well that I wasn't looking at cowboys dressed up like that! I did meet an actual cowboy at a bar (I could tell by his hands...they looked like the roots on a piece of driftwood I saw once) and he told me that real cowboys wore ball caps and fake cowboys and truck drivers wore cowboy hats. True? I don't know, you tell me.....
Oh...quite a few of the older people (even the transplants) seemed sort of cranky when my wife, me and my two well-behaved kids sat next to them in restaurants. Just sort of strange considering how friendly everybody else seemed to be when they weren't trying to get to my wallet.
Here's something else I don't like: It seems like EVERYBODY, or at least a whole bunch of people, wanted to get their hands in my pocket. There were many times where I met someone and struck up a conversation and the next thing I know they're pushing a business card off on me.
That's probably true everywhere in these hard times, however. People just trying to drum up business and make a living when it's much harder to do these days. That's just "change we can believe in."
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I saw people with CA accents or NYC accents, wearing cowboy hats, boots and little chrome tips on their collars. Huh? They looked ridiculous.
I actually admire them for at least trying to bring a little western flair to what they "thought" was a western town. They're doing more to keep the spirit of Prescott alive than are the "leaders" of the city.
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I did meet an actual cowboy at a bar (I could tell by his hands...they looked like the roots on a piece of driftwood I saw once) and he told me that real cowboys wore ball caps and fake cowboys and truck drivers wore cowboy hats. True? I don't know, you tell me.....
If so, then all the rodeo riders and personnel are fake cowboys and truck drivers.
That's probably true everywhere in these hard times, however. People just trying to drum up business and make a living when it's much harder to do these days. That's just "change we can believe in."[LEFT]
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This was back during the "boom" in the early 2000's. I haven't noticed it as much the last couple times I've been out there. Mostly real estate and construction-related people and others on the periphery of that industry.
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I actually admire them for at least trying to bring a little western flair to what they "thought" was a western town. They're doing more to keep the spirit of Prescott alive than are the "leaders" of the city.
It just seemed to be that they were trying to be someone they weren't. Maybe it was just me but a lot of them seemed to be walking with an affected "saunter" too!
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If so, then all the rodeo riders and personnel are fake cowboys and truck drivers.
I understand that stuff is the "uniform" for the rodeo, but do working cowboys wear Stetsons like that while they're actually working on a ranch?
The biggest change took place after 1990. That was when the huge boom started. The second wave hit in 2002 up until 2008.
Big land owners had a major PR role in making sure Prescott got national advertisement. There was a blitz put out by them in the 1990's to get Prescott nationally known and in doing so their land values skyrocketed. Coincidence? I don't think so.
That is when all those retirement and travel mags began pushing Prescott like it was dope. Sure enough, people got hooked and the land barrens laughed all the way to the bank.
Capitalism? Yes. Exploitation? Yes. Greed? Yes.
It could have been done in a more organized and in a less environmentally impacting way but the only people that cared were the old time residents. The developers blasted mountains and bulldozed forests. They built homes so fast, so many, they had to bring in help from other cities to keep up with the demand. "Slow down and think" was not a phrase they would utter. No infrastructure was being implented for long term viable career jobs, just residential RE, $1MIL dollar homes and golf courses. Manufacturing plants were not even entertained.
I moved to Prescott in Jan. 1998 myself. Some of my family lives there, and they've lived there since the 50s, so they've seen the changes. It's unfortunate...to 'some'...that Prescott was "discovered" and deemed to be a desirable place to live. I still believe it is and may move back one day.
I hate to say it but change is ALWAYS inevitable and people either love it or hate it. Not much middle ground. Even Cottonwood is NOTHING like it was when I was growing up but I manage to accept it. Do I have an option?? Nope. And neither does Prescott/Prescott Valley.
I really don't think you can blame people much for wanting to take advantage of an area and making a killing in real estate. It's the way the ball rolls everywhere and people like making money. It's not a sin...yet.
You shouldn't be surprised that more than one person longs for the Prescott of "Junior Bonner" (and I did mention earlier that I realize the movie was somewhat stylized, and that there probably weren't bar fights, etc. back then.)
I got this note from a friend in Phoenix just this morning: "How did Nita like "Junior Bonner?" Great movie, but brings back way too fond memories of the Prescott that I loved so much, as opposed to the ____ it is now. _______ Californians!"
I'm not making that up. Didn't add one word to it (only blocked out the swearing.) You see, he started visiting Prescott in the 70's. He has fond memories of many cowboys hats, country music, etc; and for years he very much wanted to live here - until the 90's came along. Now, as you can see, he's quite bitter about what's happened to it.
I started this thread just wishing that the leaders of Prescott might want to try to do something over the 4th to bring back some of the spirit of that movie. Maybe get volunteers to wear western cloths and walk about town, or maybe persuade at least one bar to play country music (or if they still have their "street fair" at night on Whiskey Row, maybe have at least one band there playing country music.) (BTW, I have been to "Matts," but at least at the time I was there, it was older rock coming out of the speakers.)
It's just that the 4th in Prescott is pretty sad nowadays.
I'd be willing to bet there were a lot MORE bar fights "back then" than there are now. And there are STILL bar fights on Whiskey Row.
Why do people blame Californians for everything that happens around here?? There are people moving here from all over the country, not just people from California.
So, you want to make Prescott more like Tombstone? Dress up and have pretend shoot outs and the whole nine yards?? lol
Well I don't know what you want.
The annual rodeo is always this time of the year. I will assume you are not satisfied with it anymore and it does not bring back any memories for you.
And we attended the annual 4th fireworks display here in Prescott last night. OK, it was only 30 minutes. Maybe that's all the city could afford?
I still thought is was quite nice and typical to above typical smaller town display
You might want to get a clue that the leaders of this community are not interested in the past, only running the city for what it is today. Just the facts that you have to deal with.
And tourism is one of the things they like that brings quite a bit of money to the area so they go after that too.
I don't' like all the tourists and for the most part avoid the crowds on weekends but I know that they in turn help pay a lot of bills for the city.
You cannot go back in time. Deal with what life deals you and remember the fond memories of the past.
It's about your only choice unless you want to get involved in politics yourself and try to make a change~~~and good luck on that.
Our fireworks only lasted about that long too. That big storm we had while they were setting up caused a LOT of the fireworks to get wet so we did have a few "duds", which I thought was kinda funny. The ones that DID work were spectacular, as always. Just didn't last long enough!
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