It is very clear to this reader that if the wine industry/culture creeps forth into Lake County from Napa and Sonoma County, our local economy will flourish and our culture will gain new lifeblood where it is much needed. I personally am routing for a chain of events to occur and here they are:
1– Lake County wines continue to become popular outside of the local community and continue being shipped to businesses further out in the U.S. thus establishing our credibility in a craft.
2– More wineries from out of town subcontract our local vineyards to grow their grapes.
3– Wineries opening shop in Lake Co. become more prevalent.
4– Good publicity means more people moving in for the rural charm of the countryside.
5– More businesses(grocery stores, pharmacies, coffee houses, bookstores, clothing stores, electronics stores etc.) move in.
6– More people come here looking for jobs.
7– More taxes being paid into the county ideally will mean better roads, sidewalks, public transportation, more money going into city colleges (possibly a four year college?) and a more beautified area.
8– The grand finale is that Lake County ceases to be an economy/society under the format of a resort town (which has been a stagnant unproductive stance for us to take for too long anyway) to a more broad resort town/wine country community.
With all these improvements in mind, there are aspects of nearby suburbia that we can inherit as our own. For instance the tightly knit business/shopping area of St. Helena centralized to a cluster of Highway 29 for easy access, with tasteful architecture and good variety. This technique was also adopted by Calistoga. who utilize Highway 29 similarly.
The specific strip of road I have in mind is Highway 53 from Lower Lake to Clear Lake, empty or unused plots of land litter the drive from Tower Mart to the turn-off to Vallero Gas Station and Foods Etc. This dense business center can branch off onto that street as well all the way past Zephyr Zen down to the old bowling alley.
In short, we are too dependant on the Lake itself and our resort town status. I”m not saying cancel Boardstock or anything that extreme, let”s just expand our horizons towards upward mobility.
Andrew Bray
Lower Lake
