"Richwood slowly disappearing hopefully reappearing" Richwood by justy84rw

During my stay in Richwood I watched as a town was sucked dry by its rival town Summersville. The city needs much help as much of the town's shopping and industry has completely left the town dry. You would even think with higher gas prices people would shop in town but with such limited availability of stores and goods there is no choice but to leave. The town is slowly disappearing thanks to bad choices by its administration and by its residents over the years. The citizens tried their hardest to keep Richwood a town of peace and quiet but are now figuring out the hard way what happens when you stop businesses from wanting to come to town such as Busch Beers and water companies. Most of the population is unemployed and in poverty. With no help in sight the city seems to fall under the radar.

Slowly but way too late the city finally gets one wish. A dam in the works for providing 1) another water resource during the summer 2) money from the hydroelectric turbines that will be installed when the dam begins being built sometime in the near future and 3) another grand recreation spot for water sports lovers. Only after the recent flood that blew yet another population and economic burden onto the city the state and federal governments finally see the need for this amenity which was brought to the state's attention 3 times in the past. So far this is still being studied and still has yet a long way to go, hopefully not too late before the entire city is has left for more economic and health benefits. Right now the city has tried its hardest to update its current infrastructure; the creation of a broadband provider to lure more tech businesses to the area is under way for both business and residents, the sewer upgrade has helped the city pump away more sewage to the treatment facility, and the designation of Richwood's beautiful downtown being named a historical downtown will surely hopefully help in some little ways. In my opinion Richwood needs to think more of its residents and not of the surroundings that are now engulfing the city.

It would be in the city's best intrest to begin labeling parts of the city and surrounding area for places of potential business and labeling places where road improvements could be done in the case of any new or expanding businesses. Another thing is for Richwood to ask the county and state for incorperation of the cities of Fenwick, Holcomb, and New Hope into the Richwood city limits both expanding our population and area for job development reaching our neighboring friendly towns of Nettie and Craigsville who rely heavily on Richwood to succeed. The spot of the old city dump which has been reclaimed land for years is the perfect spot for a new commercial construction project which would enhance the cities shopping choices. Stores that would be nice to see in dreams would be Target (to compete with the Super Wal-Mart in Summersville), maybe even Super Target (only can dream), Dollar Tree, Radio Shack, eateries, and the like. I think with our proximity to a population that is made up of hard workers and having another advantage of working close to home this could be the first step in revival along with 2 new industrial parks one near the Richwood Airport the other close to Craigsville would revive this blue collar town's working commitment as well as adding professional white collar jobs from tech and other firms to follow. Also the opportunities for a beautiful housing development in Little Laurel past the gate in the area where trees are being cut would make for new homes for everyone and for greater improvement to access such as the top of Greenbrier Road and to Nancy Hart's Historical Grave Site. The city needs to set its sights straight and think of everyone in town and in the area before things get much worse.

• Pros:Beautiful scenery, quiet, good schools, hard working citizens, location, recreation from the National Forest
• Cons:unemployment, citizens going into poverty, delapidated housing, streets need repaving, lack of hotels, lack of shopping
• In a nutshell:Not just "Rich in wood, Rich in people"! Its Rich in life!