Lament, kudos for Sandpoint

Alas, poor Sandpoint, we knew you well.

Not long from now, we will recall nostalgically when Sandpoint was a sleepy burg of loggers, artists, professionals and intense local politics. As we zip along the eastern edge of town on the new bypass, we won’t lament the loss of downtown traffic congestion. But we will feel guilty that we supported the Sand Creek bypass at the cost of the downtown’s idyllic setting.

Why our long faces? Sandpoint’s getting too much exposure.

In the last month alone, Sandpoint has been picked as one of Outside magazine’s 20 “dream towns” and National Geographic Adventure’s 10 “great adventure towns” – both of which were mentioned in a glowing article on Aug. 19 in USA Today, circulation 5.4 million. USA Today reporter Laura Bly described Sandpoint as “a Norman Rockwell-meets-Ansel Adams classic, brought to life every summer: the warm sunshine, the clear reaches of Sand Creek and the whoops of young boys swinging from a rope strung high in a nearby cottonwood tree.” Throw in designation as the “best small town in the West” by Sunset magazine earlier this year, and Sandpoint has been discovered.

We’re complaining, of course, while searching brochures for the best buys in lakeshore property. We’re delighted that Sandpoint and Bonner County are emerging as one of the top playgrounds and residential areas in the Inland Northwest.

For years, we’ve watched sympathetically as Sandpoint and Bonner County struggled to adequately fund schools and local government in the face of a property tax rebellion and scary public officials. It wasn’t that long ago that county commissioners questioned the importance of building codes and planning – and that one of them balked about spending money to provide proper garb and equipment for sheriff’s divers.

The surge of positive publicity will attract new people with new ideas who will relocate businesses, providing new jobs and tax revenue.

Many have mixed emotions about the publicity. In the USA Today article, Kathy Borders, a refugee from Portland, joked: “What we really need is a good, hard winter to flush (the newer arrivals) out.” Today’s media attention, however, beats that of yesteryear when the standoffs involving the Weavers at nearby Ruby Ridge and the McGuckins at Garfield Bay made headlines around the world, attracting an assortment of crackpots, local and otherwise, to preen for cameras.

We congratulate Sandpoint for getting long overdue recognition. More will come. The cat’s out of the bag. In a previous editorial, we warned community leaders to act now to ensure planning rules and a good comprehensive plan are in place to deal with the growth. But we can also appreciate the satisfaction that long-time Sandpointers feel when their town is judged among the best by respected magazines, such as Sunset, National Geographic and, in 2002, Smart Money. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.