Mt. Airy makes Money’s top 100

By DAVE PYATT, Mayor, Town of Mt. Airy
As published Aug. 19, 2009

Well, finally, it’s official. According to Money Magazine, Mt. Airy is the 53rd most desirable place to live in the U.S., and we’re all above average. Who among us hasn’t known this all along, and was just waiting for those slowpokes at CNN.money.com to come to their senses?

When I moved here over 30 years, the quaint charm, scenic views from Parr’s Ridge, and the country charm were irresistible. These are still here, but we’ve also added a collection of eclectic new residents, and the mix seems to work just fine. Since the town was incorporated in 1894, many of us have been around long enough to actually be part of it. If James Michener wrote our history, I’m afraid it would only be a pamphlet compared to “Chesapeake.”

I’ve seen notes of Michener’s research on “Chesapeake.” Seems a local Indian tribe discovered a spring at a ridge leading to a river going into what is now the Chesapeake Bay. This was the purest water around. A rival tribe put their birch bark canoe factories on this site since there were few jobs, without telling the regional tribal council.

Most of us just accept that we are fated to roam around in two counties, sort of like Sisyphus pushing two boulders up two hills at the same time. Another interesting feature just coming to the fore is that the headwaters of the Patapsco River and locally our start of the Chesapeake Bay is a home-grown product. Not to be trifled with.

While officially we are close to 10,000 people, there are probably 3 or 4 times that amount within shouting distance of town. My guess is that they, too, are all above average if truth be told. The Mt. Airy “force field” keeps these folks in our orbit. I suspect these people respect our local planning and community involvement, and believe that lots of them are part of this in different ways.

I think the next year may be a bumpy ride until Carroll County planners and stakeholders in this region iron out both their and our priorities and come to some agreement where we are collectively heading. For some reason I am upbeat about this, and I remain optimistic that we will come to a satisfactory solution, but if and only if we have a somewhat unified town position.

Sometimes, as mayor I worry about budgets, staff involvement, master plan updates, and the mechanics of government. This is certainly important, but I suspect that maintaining our town character is more important.

This ranking is also a nice thing to have in the mayor’s back pocket when folks complain about the inevitable issues that come up and my HLH (see previous column for this) complains that I didn’t do something.