The town of Napa is taking a hard look at its history in order to create a future it desires. While the economy has put the brakes on most construction and development around Napa Valley (link), Napa is using the slowdown as a time to more fully consider their redevelopment plans for downtown. City officials are taking extra steps toward their long term goals by enlisting the interest and opinions of residents who wish to get involved. Officials are keen to preserve what makes Napa special, defines its history, and lends to its character beyond the wine corridor and the tourism funneling through on the ubiquitous wine country tours which help drive the local economy.
The town is concerning itself with preserving its authenticity and sense of community, along with the history that saw it transition from Indian to Mexican, then Anglo settlers, and from wild lands to agriculture and ultimately the wine industry. There is great interest in preserving the history of the area and town and city officials want to be sure to consider and honor that history fully as the redevelopment of downtown is planned. While there is interest in such things for the residents' pride and sense of community, addressing the area's historical value is also good for the local economy. History is a significant draw for tourism, and travelers with historical interests remain in towns longer and spend more money than other segments of visitors.
The city hopes to develop programs toward heritage tourism so that the town and can diversify itself beyond wine country tours. Officials are considering the preservation and restoring of historical buildings, erecting monuments, and creating walking tours around the downtown. They are also looking beyond the town as they consider their redevelopment plans, given that the history of the area is derived from throughout Napa Valley(link), and also the future of what one town does, influences every other town throughout the Napa Valley (link) be that with hotels, water, traffic, bike trails, green and sustainable initiatives, and more. Effectively, the town is planning the future history of Napa.
