Parsons WV a dying town or a hidden gem?

I can remember hearing locals as far back as my grade school days referring to Parsons as a "dying town" or "retirement community". With this post I wanted to take a look at this and see just where Parsons currently stands.

If you would have asked me a decade ago I would have agreed that the outlook for our small little town was bleak given the dwindling population, lack of new business, and general lack of interest in any sort of local development or project.

Fast forward to 2017 and this is what I've seen thanks to organizations like On Trac, work being done by The City of Parsons, and locals who've taken it upon themselves to refinish and repurpose crumbling buildings in our once pre-85 flood thriving town.

Parsons is once again growing with investments like the new Shop N Save underway (pictured above), new businesses being launched at an increasing rate, and most of the town being either renovated already or being eyeballed for renovation at a later date.

If you figure in recent improvements being done to the local infrastructure such as new sidewalks on First St, new lamp posts, new trash truck, the new annex, the veterans memorial, new bridges, new welcome signs, and other planned projects it becomes clear that money is being invested in the future of our town.

Pair that with the fact that 2017 saw the launch of several new local business ventures including my own Hillbilly Vape, Mountain Momma's Shaved Ice, The Dugout, The Iron Bridge Bistro, and more with most surviving the year in tact and business wise the town is growing despite the recent loss of  some businesses such as Performance Chevrolet and Paps Lothes BBQ.

Recent years have also seen increased investments in local events with the Parsons Christmas celebration growing each year, the addition of the Big Mountain Run, and further expansion to already existing events such as the Pickin in Parsons Bluegrass Festival.

All in all I'd say Parsons still has room to grow and more to do as far as reaching the level of growth it once had prior to the 85 flood but the outlook for our town is a lot less bleak than it was a decade ago and improvements are happening everyday at an increasing rate.

Being a business owner that spends a lot of time talking to other potential business owners, city officials, and other decision makers in our town I'm also privy to some information and intentions that aren't yet made public, what I can say though is I'm loving the outlook for our area and the future plans currently being made that will be coming to light in the years to come.

Location: Parsons, WV, USA

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