1.2 op/ed november 19aceweekly.com/pdfs/uploads/s_small-town_charms.pdf · 2017. 2. 1. · title:...

Kim Huston, author of Small Town Sexy, likesto say she is “living large in small townAmerica and loving every minute of it.” Sheproves her adoration for simple anduncomplicated pleasures when as she extols thevirtues of living in towns “with sometimes no morethan an aluminum 3 ft. x 2 ft. road sign with a nameon it … where we are taught by teachers who taughtour parents … where we pull over when a funeralprocession goes by.”

Huston will be signing her new book at the AceHoliday Hop at Woodland Computers (on HighStreet) this Friday, November 20 at 5 pm, along withLeslie Guttman, who will also be signing copies ofEquine ER (see Ace Weekly, October 21, 2009).

Huston, who now lives in Bardstown, is an eco-nomic developer by profession, and says, “For thoseof you who are not sure what that is — including myDad — my job description tells me that I ‘seek toimprove the economic well being and quality of lifefor a community and/or county by helping createjobs and growing the income and tax bases.’

“Lexington is bordered by a handful ofsmalltowns, like those profiled inHuston’s book, includingGeorgetown, Versailles, Nicholasville,Winchester, and Paris. She comments, “As I say inthe book, and I believe it true in so manyinstances, that small communities are only as suc-cessful as their neighboring big cities. In my com-munity of Bardstown, we feel the economic suc-

cesses and the failures in Louisville, becausemany of our residents are employed there. If UPSor FORD does well, our residents who work therestayed employed. Layoffs and shutdowns will

affect us the same way. I will bet that is the casein Lexington with its surrounding communities.In small towns we acknowledge the fact there arenot always enough employment opportunities for

our residents and many are forced to drive out-side of communities.”

The success factor is also important in tourism.“While the Kentucky Derby is located in Louisville,

so many of the neighboring communities benefitfrom the visitors who will travel, eat and stay inhotels outside the city. The World Equestrian Gameswill be a huge boost for not only the economy ofLexington but for numerous surrounding communi-ties as these visitors will want to see and experiencemore that the state has to offer.”

Huston believes that “Lexington is one of the‘best of both worlds’ cities. The city is large enoughto attract great companies, a diversity of restaurantsand retail, and it’s a wonderful sports town with a

top university. However, with that said, it is notoverwhelming large. You can get around very easily,run into someone you know walking down MainStreet and within minutes be driving by a beautiful

horse farm where the sky just opens up.”She also emphasizes that Kentucky has unique

market advantages. “Kentucky is fortunate to havesome of the greatest small towns in the country and

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Small Town CharmerEconomic developer Kim Huston’s new bookcelebrates life in KentuckyBy Kim Thomas

“Lexington is one of the ‘best of both worlds’ cities. The city islarge enough to attract great companies, a diversity of

restaurants and retail, and it’s a wonderful sports town with atop university. However, with that said, it is not overwhelminglarge. You can run into someone you know walking down MainStreet and within minutes be driving by a beautiful horse farm

where the sky just opens up.”—Kentucky native and economic developer, Kim Huston

Author, Kentucky Native, and economic developer Kim Huston

many of them are located here in CentralKentucky like Danville, Berea, Midway,Versailles, Nicholasville, Mt. Sterling andWinchester. Each of these communities hasdeveloped a niche for success and each iseconomically vital. These communities havegained national attention for their locationand highway accessibility, quality of place,cost of living, breathtaking scenery and bot-tom line, just a wonderful seductivelycharming way of life.”

As she charmingly weaves her tales ofgrowing up inthe small town ofBloomfield, Kentucky(Pop. 886), Hustonreflects on how her close-knit family shared theirhome with her grand-mother (whose LTDHuston would sneak outand take for a spin at theage of 14) and revealsnuggets of wisdom thatonly a small town observ-er could ferret out, i.e.,how she sold hedgeapples “for a nickel, guar-anteed to ward off spi-ders if you put them inyour closets,” which is avaluable piece of infor-mation, since the hedgeapple’s purpose hasalways been one of those elusive andunsolved mysteries of life. This glimpse intoher childhood is just one example of themany stories that could not be told by some-one raised in a bigger city. As the daughter oftwo educators, Huston’s family enjoyedthree-month summer vacations, and the roadtrips afforded to such a family no doubtinstilled a natural curiosity for what life waslike in other small towns, “driving from oneend of the state to the other, visitingKentucky’s great state park system.”

After graduating from the University ofKentucky, Huston spent some time as anintern on WVLK, working with RalphHacker and Dick Gabriel. Thereafter shebegan her broadcasting career in Bardstown,and was host of the 1990 television seriescalled On Location, much like CharlesKuralt’s On The Road series. Huston’s fasci-nation with off-the-beaten-path locales even-tually manifested itself in her book, SmallTown Sexy: The Allure of Living in SmallTown America. Don’t let the name fool you.This book isn’t Sex & the City Relocated – it’sstories about small towns, from the perspec-tive of an economic developer.

She speaks from experience, as a smalltown girl who cherishes her roots – andas a professional who is helping devel-op her town’s economic prosperity. “Smalltowns aren’t just for small businesses any-more. The internet has made sure of that …Towns joining the wired world of technologyrealize that you don’t need an office tower inBig City USA to do a million dollar deal, youcan do it from Main Street USA.”

The romance reaches beyond businessinterests. “There are 20- to 40-year-olds com-ing back home with a real desire to raise theirfamilies in communities where they grew

up. And, retirees aredrawn to many smalltowns that have the cli-mate, recreationalopportunities and acces-sibility to highways andairports that they areseeking.”

The author admits,however, that not every-one shares her love forthe small town lifestyle.“As I explain in thebook, not everyone isgoing to enjoy a not-so-big city way of life. No,there are not always thejob opportunities, andno you won’t find adiversity of restaurantsand nightlife andchances are you will

have to drive to a larger city for more shop-ping opportunities, but what you are goingto get are small business entrepreneurialopportunities, great Mom and Pop dinersand specialty shops featuring local arts andcrafts. More importantly, you get a placewhere people understand that size has nobearing on the kind of lifestyle you can havethere.”

Kim Thomas, a former writer for TheThoroughbred Record, grew up in Florence,Kentucky before it was Y’alltown, when theMayor was also a math teacher and fireman.

Kim Huston will sign Small Town Sexy: TheAllure of Living in Small Town America at theAce Gallery Hop, at Woodland Computers, 507East High Street, Lexington. Friday, November 20,2009 at 5pm.

Leslie Guttman, author of Equine ER: Storiesfrom a Year in the Life of an Equine VeterinaryHospital, will also sign her book at the AceHoliday Hop.

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