Why Water Valley, Miss.?

One of the wonderful things about urban planning is how it permeates so much more, even sometimes interior decorating. The Times had a heartwarming story last week about a quartet of 30-something, fashionable and plucky women who through their interior design talents and love of homespun gentrifying retail have revived Water Valley, a fading small town in Mississippi. They bought run-down early 20th-century houses and turned them into gems that anyone in the Northeast could love, and opened a small art gallery and a cafe-grocery. Everyone else in town is apparently noticing how much livelier things seem. (One is even married to LCD Soundsystem's former tour manager!) Who wouldn't want to rescue a small town like this and leave their style imprinted on downtown?

As wonderful as the Southern folk art, trim details and wall decorations are in the photos, they're also excellently executing a blueprint of urban planning. For rural towns to succeed in the early 21st century, they need to cultivate homegrown talent, support locally owned businesses and redevelop the historic housing stock (or other historic and cultural assets). They also need to be exceedingly patient. I'm sure Water Valley's resurgence isn't as simple as the article makes it seem, and that many people were involved beyond this group, for a longer time. But large companies no longer open branches in rural towns and employ a plurality of the residents. Instead, a much more nuanced, imaginative path is required. This is an overly simplified version of that wonderfully nebulous term "place making," which, I like to think, essentially means: Be distinct! As globalization compels convergence, find people and things that combine to create texture and variegation.

The other interesting question is: Why Water Valley, Miss.? Mississippi, and every state in the U.S., have dozens of similar towns that have lost their original mission and are struggling to reinvent themselves. Why did these women chose Water Valley? The biggest hint is probably that it's only 25 miles from Oxford, where the University of Mississippi is located. The university is the firewood and then a collection of people are the spark. There are only so many reputable universities, though. What else can play that role? And more broadly, are the values in this story and in this blog post niche ones or more mainstream?

Above is photo of Water Valley's downtown that I found of Flickr. I love the old Coca-Cola ad on the building and the suspended awning.