Is Sisters growing or declining?

On Christmas Day evening, the red sunset over the snow capped Three Sisters was breathtaking, it was so beautiful - why not share it, someone shared it with you!

I'm pro-growth. We live in a beautiful place that needs to be shared with others. There are three primary ways for us to grow: 1. New companies move to town (EDCO is working on this); 2. Tourism; 3. Second-home developments.

I believe we are all pro-growth in one way or another. We'd like to see our kids grow, our churches, schools, clubs, as well as the flowers and trees. The Oregon pioneers came here in the 1800s and named our Three Sisters, Faith, Hope and Charity. They hoped to establish families and grow Oregon and America.

Now that the recent second-home development discussion has quieted down, I'd like to reflect on the residual effect of all the negativism. It appears that according to the articles in The Nugget, we are a community of "NO." We don't want any new development; lets close the door behind us - Sisters Country is closed for development.

Some people say that if you are not growing, you are dying. Here are some statistics:

• New home permits issued by the city: 2011-16; 2012 - 20; 2013 - 42. That's 78 new houses in three years, averaging 26 houses per year. If the average is a family of four, that's about 100 new people per year. How many left town?

• Sisters School District enrollment (these are the official school district enrollment numbers from 2007-2013, starting with 2007): 1,376; 1,302; 1,289; 1,249; 1,188; 1,148; 1,155.

• U-Haul rentals 2010-2012: In three years, 57 percent of the trailer loads went out and 43 percent came into Sisters Country. Inbound is up over the last two years.

You can decide if we are growing or declining.

Co-incidentally, I was stunned that Ray's Food Place (C&K Markets) went into bankruptcy. Will they pull out of Sisters someday? Who knows; like any business they'd like to see their sales go up every year.

One group opposed to the proposed development cited as one reason to oppose it was because they wanted to keep our "rural small town" feeling. I'd say that is a relative thing. When we first arrived here in 1961, Sisters had 602 people, was really rural and it was struggling. Logging was ending, no new jobs, and most people in town lived in single- or double-wide trailers. It got so bad the high school closed. That's rural. Today, Sisters Country is a vibrant community of 10,000 or more people

What changed? Development, that's what changed. It all started when Mike Hollern and Bill Smith came to town, bought the original Black Butte Ranch and developed it, and went on to develop Crossroads and Tollgate on Brooks-Scanlon timber land. Development has made Sisters Country what it is today - a beautiful community in a world-class setting.

So, along with talking about a trail, paved or unpaved, from A to B, we should be talking about our future. Are we open to smart second-home growth (another Black Butte Ranch?) or are we closed to growth? As of now the loudest voices have been "no-growth" voices. I hope that is not what we want. No growth hurts us all; home values, our business, churches, service clubs, and encourages our kids to leave for greener pastures.

I think it is important that we all discuss this with our friends and neighbors. The Chamber of Commerce, city manager, city council members, Rotary, Kiwanis, veterans, Rodeo, quilt show, the music festival groups should all be heard from. This subject is important to the future of Sisters Country and we need to decide what the future direction will be for us and our children.