I recently visited the town of Independence, Oregon, along with the rest of the staff at Rural Development Initiatives (RDI), where we participated in a walking tour of the revitalized downtown. The tour was lead by Independence Community Development Technician, Shawn Irvine. The town, named after Independence, Missouri, was formerly known as the hop capital of the world...



so naturally, our tour started next to the hop plants growing outside the newly built public library:



Our first stop after the library was the Greater Independence Business Incubator, which provides a community hub of small business service and support to local area entrepreneurs, business leaders, and start-up businesses in the area.



We moved on from there to tour the downtown reconstruction project. Features of the project include expanded sidewalks, banners that were hand-painted by local artists, new street lights, and flower baskets.




The day of our tour was hot, so we found a shady spot under a beautiful tree in Riverview Park overlooking the amphitheater and the river, and Shawn continued to talk to us about other improvements to the town, like the eight-screen movie theater, new restaurants, a soccer field, community gardens, an interpretive kiosk―the list goes on.

Many of the successes in Independence are a result of collaborations with other organizations and entities, including the Boy Scouts and the National Guard. RDI facilitated a number of visioning and strategic planning workshops in Independence in the mid 90s which helped lay the groundwork for improvements to the community. The interpretive kiosk facing Ash Creek Trail was built as part of an RDI-facilitated Ford Institute Leadership Program class project. More projects are in the works for Independence, including the creation of a recreational trail between Independence and Monmouth. Work is also under way to build a footbridge over Ash Creek, a natural border for Riverview Park, this summer.
 

The visit to Independence was exciting, and I left feeling inspired by this vibrant small town. It's amazing to see what one community can accomplish.

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