Sustainability is on the tip of everyone’s tongues:
- Installing green energy projects, such as wind turbines and solar panels
- Certifying buildings and electronics, such as LEED and Energy Star
- Walking and bicycling to reduce carbon emissions and promote exercise and health
- Taking advantage of public transportation
- Buying local and not filling the coffers of chain stores and multinational corporations
- Eating fresh produce from farms and cooperative agriculture shares
- Wearing organic clothing made from cotton and hemp
- Preserving the past through museums and wildlife refuges
- Conserving natural resources such as rivers, lakes, and open land
The list goes on and on…
Social, economic, and environmental issues are at the heart of the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, and Newburyport, Masachusetts may as well be a UN model community for the hard work and volunteerism of hundreds of residents involved in grassroots community organizations, government task forces, and business resource groups.
Home to the birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard and the oldest continuously-running courthouse, the 17,000-population Newburyport was once a resting stop for George Washington, Aaron Burr, and the Marquis de Lafayette.
While Washington and his troops stayed at the 1771 Tracy Mansion, now a restored area within the Newburyport Public Library, their descendants today sleep at downtown inns and B&Bs.
History is prevalent here. One only needs to drive on a 1-mile stretch of historic High Street to see Federalist and Victorian style homes, the likes of which are hard to find nationwide.
Tourists come to Newburyport to see the historic homes, enter an 1825 jail, and take whale-watching rides in the Atlantic Ocean from the city’s breathtaking boardwalk overlooking the mouth of the mighty Merrimack River.
Did I mention the bald eagles, piping plovers, Canadian geese, terns, doves, loons, ospreys, and egrets that nest in Newburyport either seasonally or year-round? Birdwatching is very popular here and people come from all over to catch a glimpse or take that awe-inspiring photo.
Earlier today, I attended the first meeting of the Greater Newburyport Area Cultural Heritage Assessment project (GNACHA), a local initiative which the Daily News described as a way to take stock of local tourism.
But it’s more than just looking at tourism statistics. Much more.
Leading by example, the GNACHA partners are:
- Historic New England
- Newburyport Preservation Trust
- Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Responding to a request to attend the meeting, I gleefully said yes.
I immediately observed that despite some advance press of the meeting, none of the city’s media outlets attended nor local bloggers such as Gillian Swart and Tom Salemi.
For their benefit, and for the benefit of the global audience reading this sentence, here is a snapshot of what was discussed and ways that other communities — around the world — can capitalize on building a successful and sustainable cultural heritage tourism program:
Cultural heritage tourism, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes historic, cultural, and natural attractions and is defined as “traveling to experience the places and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.”
There are four steps to achieve success and sustainability in cultural heritage tourism:
- 1. Assess the potential.
2. Plan and organize.
3. Prepare for visitors by protection and management of cultural, historic, and natural resources.
4. Market for success.
Today’s meeting fell under step 1.
We started today’s meeting with the first step, a very good place to start.
The National Trust suggests assessing 11 sites and resources involved in any cultural heritage program. These are identifiable areas that promote tourism in many, but not all, communities:
- Scenic drives
- Walking or driving tours in the downtown
- Historic sites
- Cultural sites
- Parks and natural resources
- Meeting facilities
- Hotels, motels, inns, B&Bs
- Unique restaurants
- Unique retail shops and artisan studios
- Gateways or entrances into the community
- Visitor information centers
We realized very quickly that everyone had many ideas to contribute, and so we only got through about five of the above points.
Of note, we talked of a need to increase signage for events and to important venues, installing more municipal accessible bathrooms, improving public transit infrastructure and access, increasing PR for the city’s rich maritime history, and working with businesses and the city on easier driving directions (Mapquest takes people through a busy industrial park which dead-ends if you don’t know where to turn).
The next meeting will continue where we left off, and possibly begin identifying individuals and groups — stakeholders — who will prove fruitful, necessary, and obligatory, such as those in the following 16 areas:
- Tourism offices
- Nonprofit art groups and their directors
- Historic site and museum directors, staff, board
- Event organizers
- Artists
- Historic societies
- Preservation organizations
- Cultural/civic organizations
- Local business owners
- “Main Street” individuals
- Parks and recreation groups
- Government officials
- Regional economic development staff
- Higher education
- Local media
- Churches and other faith institutions
The next GNACHA meeting is Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 9 a.m. at the public library. I’ll be there; will you?
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Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 5 comments }
If we didn’t have to work, absolutely. It sounds like a really great and important organization.
Well I wasn’t invited, was I? Besides, can’t we just do stuff without talking about it for several months (or years) first?
Anyway, the tourist trolley idea was shot down (streets too narrow), we made the Tracy Mansion into the library, all the artisan shops are being chased out by Karp et al., as are the artists themselves.
The city will not be the same place it is now after Karp gets done with it. It isn’t even the same place I moved to 4 years ago!
What’s the point? The rich people Karp wants to lure here aren’t going to take historic tours and shop in ‘artisan’ studios.
Where is the 1825 jail?
Hey! I’ve got a day job man, cut me some slack. Blogging don’t pay the day care bills.
And no, I won’t be at the next meeting either.
But keep writing.
@Mary – I’d use initiative more than organization. Not that formal, but, yeah, a more defined cultural heritage tourism process is vital to Newburyport’s economic future.
@Gillian – Do you have data on this tourist trolley? I’ve heard rumblings about it lately. Oh, and despite Ann Lagasse in attendance, noboby mentioned Steve Karp’s name. The waterside project was only said once, and in passing. Until anything is in stone, it’s all rumors.
@Tom – Thanks, I will. You too.
Of course you’re invited – everyone’s invited, and everyone should participate. Or we could just wait until Karp defines our community and then spend the next decades complaining about how we had no voice. There are a lot of people doing good work in this community and we have an opportunity to identify and support them and talk about what makes our city so wonderful. It also can’t hurt to help perhaps our most influential out-of-towner, Ann Ormond, fully comprehend what a complex, unique community her Chamber is supposed to represent.
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