Oneonta Downtown Renaissance by Cassandra Miller
Leaning Into What the City of Oneonta Does Best
While attending the Radically Rural conference in Keene, New Hampshire last week, three themes stood out as particularly relevant to Oneonta: “Reweave our social fabric,” “Re-engage the next generation,” and “Reframe the narrative.”
Like many small towns and cities, Oneonta faces challenges—shifting Main Street dynamics, a shrinking population and occasional incivility. But what’s important is how we respond.
One of the benefits of living in a rural setting is the strength of our social bonds. We know our neighbors and generally support and help one another. Our social fabric is tightly interwoven and it’s more apparent how interconnected people are in a smaller community compared to an urban area.
We have a population with an average age of 22.7, thanks to two colleges. We want to entice those students to stay and attract former residents like myself to return home.
One of the ways to do that is to reframe the narrative from what we lack to what we have. Oneonta is never going to be everything to everyone, but we can lean into who we are and appeal to those who want what we have here.
