Steel Valley Outdoors

On Morning Edition this morning, NPR ran a story on the Small town of Butler, NH and the destruction of the Burgess Mill, once the largest paper mill in the world.

Two things struck me listening to this story.

First, that Youngstown is not unique. The People of Butler sounded a lot like the people of Sheet and Tube, or US Steel, or any number of steel mills of the Mahoning valley. There is definitely a sense that they held on to these jobs and this industrial economy for a long as they could, and are trying to come to grips with the fact that they are now gone.

Second, Butler has definite plans for this industrial area. The local TV station states that there are plans for a couple of uses, while the NPR story mentions Recreational use and Green space at the end. I was struck by how their local leaders have already come up with multiple uses and plans even before the dust has cleared.

Maybe our leaders could learn something?