Huntsville changed dramatically in the nine or ten years since my last visit. Even then, it had morphed from the sleepy college community of the mid-seventies into a sprawling rural town trying desperately—but failing—to be urban. Now, roughly a decade later, it seems to be the young, unsophisticated wanna-be, rife with desire to be a grown-up but perpetually branded by its unrefined rural demeanor. It has the trappings of culture but it carries them poorly. Traffic-clogged streets, evidence everywhere of failed folksy attempts at refinement, and unrestrained consumerism and gluttony abound. Restraint could have channeled development into sophistication. Instead, the town represents what could have happened to Houston without adult supervision and absent the wisdom of experience.
The paragraph above represents my impressions after just one brief evening looking for a place for dinner. In spite of the brevity of last night’s exposure and the paucity of experience it represented, I stick with my assessment of the town. At least for now. I am admittedly judgmental of a town that grew too fast with too little planning and too much desire for unchecked wealth. It would have better served its future had it stayed smallish and rural and tied exclusively to its roots as a college town whose primary industry was incarceration. Its collegiate foundation and its reliance on the Texas prison system for its economy remain obvious, but its development outstripped its ability to maintain any semblance of a unique identity. Today, it relies on economic gluttony to shape it into anytown America, a place with few unique, defining attributes. It could just as easily be a suburb of Minneapolis as an exurb of the Houston-Austin-Dallas Triangle.
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Despite my unfavorable review of Huntsville, we had a decent steak dinner in Huntsville’s downtown last night. At least the chimichurri sauce was good. The steak was adequate. But the town’s small downtown has been effectively abandoned in favor of “urban” redevelopment and new eastward growth. “New” seems to be what the community values now. Speaking of which, we are staying in a very nice, new, upscale motel. New, luxurious, clean. And like any new offering by the same hotel brand anywhere in suburban America.
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I look forward to getting back to our renovation project. I want it finished. But we learned yesterday that our shower will have to wait another four weeks (or more) for a door. By then, I want to be in the house, showering in the guest bath.
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It,s hard to think philosophically in a dark motel room, typing with one finger. I may go search for coffee.
