When Samuel Branch started telling the McComb Rotary Club last week how the visions and work of six people revived Laurel’s downtown area, the question on everyone’s mind was whether this could be duplicated in some other small town.
Somewhere like McComb. Or Brookhaven. Or Natchez. Or just about any small town in Mississippi that has been affected by the evolution from a manufacturing economy to a technology economy, enticing more young people to the opportunities in larger cities like Houston and Atlanta.
It’s pretty neat that Branch, who grew up in Smithdale, has a front-row seat to what’s going on in Laurel. He works for a company run by HGTV “Home Town” stars Ben and Erin Napier and two other couples. Along with renovating houses, they want to bring jobs to Laurel. Their goals are ambitious.
The best thing Branch said was that all is not lost for McComb.
“I think McComb is a lot better off than it’s given credit for,” he said, specifically citing the development of Delaware Avenue, which he added was a lot better than what Laurel had not too long ago.
But, being realistic, we should not ignore the city’s problems. There are too many unoccupied homes that probably need to be torn down. There are even more older homes that badly need a Ben and Erin renovation — which can only start with property owners willing to pay for the work.
Crime is an issue, especially the gunfire that’s heard too often. And we have not figured out how to get more of our young people to consider sticking around. The siren song of larger cities is understandably powerful.
It seems to me that the first step in improving any city would be having the luck of finding some people who can see the big picture and are willing to do the hard work of bringing that picture to life.
This is where Laurel hit the jackpot. The Napiers and the couples they work with had ties to the city and wanted to make it a more appealing place to live and raise a family.
The HGTV show sounds like an unexpected bonus — these people were going to do their thing in Laurel whether or not cameras were recording the story.
I suspect, but don’t know, that there are already some people in McComb or Pike County with the same ideas that have helped Laurel. I think there are plenty of ideas on how to improve McComb, but not enough results yet.
And, frankly, maybe not enough customers, either. Main Street is a good example. With only a couple of exceptions, its downtown buildings are greatly underused. The big question remains: If someone invests the money to fix up one of the buildings, will people come to use it?
There are some successes — a couple on Main Street and more of them one block north, on State Street. It’s something to build upon.
The more important element, though, has to be housing. You can’t make a city more livable if people don’t want to live there, or if there are not enough decent homes.
Branch estimated that the Napiers have renovated more than 100 homes. “Home Town” has had 118 episodes in its eight seasons — the ninth just started — so that gives you a good number.
Can you imagine how any small town would be improved if 100-plus homes got renovated in less than 10 years? It would boost neighborhoods and property values, and people would notice.
A lot of things have to come together to effect real change. Which leads to the question of whether Laurel’s success be replicated elsewhere.
Yes — or maybe — but it wouldn’t be exactly the same. For starters, another town wouldn’t have a TV show that is a magnet for visitors.
Branch is correct when he says McComb deserves some credit. The city’s population has stayed between 11,000 and 13,000 from the 1960 census to the 2020 census.
Laurel, on the other hand, lost a full one-third of its population between 1960 and 1990 — going from 27,000 residents to 18,000. In 2020 the city had 17,000 residents.
As for McComb, we need a few more visionaries. And after that? Just hard work.
