Nothing spells success like money. In this case, that is Money magazine?s annual ranking of the top 100 areas in America in which to live.
Up there at No. 4 is Columbia/Ellicott City. These outstanding communities have a message for neighborhoods, towns and cities all across our nation: You can do it!
Unincorporated Columbia is one of the newest “cities” in the USA. Now with a population of more than 100,000, only 43 years ago it was nothing but the inchoate dream of James Rouse, president of the Rouse Co.
He outlined his plan for a new city on 14,000 acres of Howard County land. He convened a work group of 14 nationally known experts. In 1965 Howard County passed the New Town District ordinance, and the rest is history.
Anyone who says that is because it is a new community planted in a well-to-do rural area should consider Ellicott City, one of the oldest communities in America.
Founded in 1772 as site of a grain mill, it quickly expanded to prosper as an early agribusiness economic center. Frederick Turnpike and then the first national road went through.
It was such an economic powerhouse that the B&O Railroad ran its first stretch of track there and built the first train station in America.
Needless to say, the economic climate changed. As have so many communities large and small in 20th-century America, Ellicott City declined precipitously.
But it fought back. Now it is a 21st-century city of 60,000 that can truthfully and proudly put “Historic” in front of its name.
The magazine ranks areas based on a wide array of criteria, but cited Columbia for its convenience and abundance of parkland, and Ellicott City for its historic charm, in detailing special features that lifted this area so near to the top.
So here we have one of the newest “cities” in America (if incorporated, Columbia would be the second-largest in Maryland) and one of the oldest.
Starting a city from scratch is not the sure thing a lot of people might think. There probably are a million ways to do it wrong and one way to do it right.
Reviving an 18th-century city in decline is no easy task either, as too many communities know.
Experts can cite 1,000 factors for success. Other municipalities should study these communities to help figure out what can work for them.
But one common, salient factor is so obvious it must be embraced by every community large and small throughout the land. That factor? Citizen involvement.
Rouse built it into Columbia from day one. Ellicott City residents seized control of their destiny decades ago.
Of all lessons these outstanding communities can teach others, that is the most important one.
