Sleuthing Wharton’s incredible potential

What is this place and why haven’t I been here before?

For the past 13 years I’ve lived up the road in Rosenberg. I’ve spent several of those years working for newspapers in Sugar Land and Sealy. My only encounters with Wharton were basically high school sports teams coming to play whatever local school I was covering at the time. Other than the occasional stop at Buc-ee’s, Wharton was just another town I passed through on my way to someplace else. Until I started this job Dec. 2, I had never wandered off U.S. Highway 59 into town.

Now that I’ve been here three weeks I can’t help but wonder why it took me so long. Wharton is clearly one of the area’s best kept secrets. All of the people I’ve met so far have been incredibly kind and welcoming. Although there are some blighted areas, the city has a nice mix of historic buildings and modern facilities. The potential for historical preservation downtown is incredible.

Having spent 10 months this year living in Fredericksburg, I’ve come to appreciate what historical preservation can mean to a community. I honestly feel Wharton has what it takes. No, this isn’t the Texas Hill Country, and Wharton isn’t Fredericksburg, but the city has that potential once it finds its niche.

It seems every city in the state is the capital of something or other. Wharton just needs to figure out what it does bigger and better than everyone else. It may be something that’s already here or perhaps it’s something yet to be. So far I’ve seen some really nice antique stores and resale shops. Could antiquing become the big draw? That would blend well with the city’s historic districts.

We have the Colorado River and Caney Creek here in town. Maybe there is some way to capitalize on that, kind of like the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Water features are always a nice attraction.

Don’t tell me something significant can’t be done. In the short time I’ve been in the region I’ve watched as Sugar Land transformed itself into a destination city with its palatial city hall, Constellation Field, and Smart Financial Center, among other things. Katy and Fulshear have done similar things. Why not Wharton?

For years I’ve been hearing that Sealy will be the new Katy as the Houston area expands westward. If Sealy can be the new Katy, why can’t Wharton be the new Sugar Land? But then why be limited by Sugar Land? Wharton can be so much more. It’s not hemmed in by other cities and towns. There is room to grow and create.

Back in my home state of Colorado, the city of Loveland became a mecca for sculptors. It’s quite the attraction. And while the city of Estes Park has the beauty of the mountains and is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, people go there for the shops and restaurants.

If Wharton is interested in reinventing itself (I could be wrong about this), then it must first have a plan. Most cities have a comprehensive plan to guide development and I found Wharton’s online. I took a quick peek at it and it’s pretty pedestrian. There are no BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals) in it. It suffers from a lack of imagination.

But perhaps the good people of Wharton don’t want the city to be anything more than it already is – a bedroom community for Houston. Perhaps the rural, small-town life is the appeal of Wharton. Growth means change and change means growth. Change can be hard to accept, especially of you love the community the way it is.

Not changing, however, is stagnation and death. More buildings will be boarded up and the younger generations will seek greener pastures (perhaps in Katy of Sugar Land) and only think of Wharton as a good place to be from.

I plan to be a part of the community for a long time and don’t want to see it suffer from blight when it has such incredible potential to shine. If I were an entrepreneur I would be looking at Wharton as a potential gold mine. This would be a great time to invest in property, open restaurants and boutiques, and capitalize on the location, especially as U.S. 59 becomes Interstate 69, opening the area to even more possibilities.

When people exit off the highway to stop at Buc-ee’s, we need to give them a good reason to head south into town. There is a lot to see and experience here but nothing to point that out or make it clear. Buc-ee’s should be the gateway to Wharton, not the destination.

The people here are wonderful and that is the best resource of any community. Welcome to Wharton, the State Capital of Friendliness! Has kind of a nice ring to it, don’t you agree?