36) Predictions and Hopes for Granville's Future

Hope That Values Will Prevail

(Arnold Joseph)

What do I think lies in Granville’s future?  Oh, if I knew that I’d run for mayor!  But I’m afraid that growth will continue.  I hope the powers that be can ward off excessive growth, whatever that may mean.  That the lawyers and developers don’t dominate it all.  That some of the humanistic values, values of real civilization manage to prevail.  On the whole, I have a pretty positive outlook on where I am, and although Granville won’t stay as is, I hope whatever development occurs does not ruin the wonderful things we have now.

It Will Still be a Granville to be Proud of

(John Klauder)

I think we’re going to continue to have more sub developments with more housing and less green space.  But, I think we will adapt and accommodate ourselves to the changes.  And that, in the long haul, even though it won’t be the same Granville as it is today, that it’ll still be a Granville that we’ll all be proud of and that I’ll be thankful that I’m still living in.  So, I guess, I like to feel I have a positive mode towards the future of Granville, but a realistic one too, -- knowing that the Spring Valleys are going to go away, and that Thornwood is no longer open for sledding.  But I do think that kids today growing up in this community for many more years to come will be able to look back and have their own fond memories of a small community.

[Notice that the gap in the hills for the power line is the same in both this and the photograph above.]

Newcomers Bring Energy and Want the Same Kind of Community

(Greg Ream)

I don’t mean this to sound corny, but the more things change the more things stay the same.  And the reason is because people who live in Granville were attracted here because of the type of town we have.  We are attracting the kind of people that want to live in the same type of place that we want to live in.  So even though there are newcomers, we’re infused with their energy.  So we’re evolving but we’re not being infused with tons of people.  There is no major industry that’s moved to town that’s bringing everybody in all of a sudden.  So, yes, we are changing because of the new people, but we’re also changing for the better because of their energy and because this is the kind of place they want to live in.

Core Elements of Granville Life Have Survived Changes

(Fred Karaffa)

Granville has a way of transforming people into a mode of living and feeling that is very nice.  We’ve retained our meeting places on the main street -- the coffee shops and all.  It would be a disappointment to me if I ever walked that one downtown block going to the post office in Granville on Saturday morning and got home in less than an hour.  Because eventually you get to know a lot of people and a lot of people know you and they’re friendly and they don’t have a lot of agendas and it’s really kind of a nice open place and I’ve always enjoyed that.  I think so far Granville is surviving; it’s changing and I do want to emphasize that I don’t believe change is necessarily progress.  But so far, the change has not, I think, bothered the core elements of living in Granville.

Integrating New Folks into the Granville Community

(Don Wiper)

Granville is growing.  And I think one of the challenges for the community, and by community I mean the schools, I mean the village government, the township government and organizations like the Land Trust and the Historical Society and Kiwanis and Rotary and the churches is to be welcoming and trying to integrate those folks into the community so they get an understanding of what this community is all about.

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