By Staff
Our View
The Atmore Advance would like to acknowledge the efforts of downtown merchants to update and stylize downtown Atmore.
Thanks to your efforts to make our city more attractive, prospective residents and businesses will likely see Atmore as a progressive town and one in which they would like to, themselves, be a part.
Phillip Norris, PhD. from the University of South Alabama's Baldwin County branch believes with the addition of the transit system currently being touted by Jo Bonner's office, Atmore could become a hub community.
"We think Atmore could make a great bedroom city for Mobile," Norris said. "That might sound crazy, but we plan on having an efficient transit system so that if someone lives in Brewton and gets a job in Mobile, we can get them there everyday in a safe, fast, and efficient manner."
Though being a bedroom community for Mobile may or may not be in Atmore's future some, including Atmore's Mayor Howard Shell, believe that the soon-to-be beautified Atmore can not help but attract people to the area.
"It has a very positive impression on people passing through," Shell said.
Since Hurricane Ivan the city appears to be moving forward by leaps and bounds.
The hurricane's fury has blown away a lot of problems in this town and blown in a lot of new ideas for the progress of this city .
Since the storm it seems that people have banded together to promote and advance this city.
Business owners who could have just returned their buildings to their original, pre-storm, state have decided to improve on their buildings rather than stay with the way things have always been.
Each day the downtown area looks more like New Orleans' French Quarter than a southern Alabama railroad town.
These changes have managed to update the city without destroying any of its old world charm.
Being progressive without losing sight of the past is one of the many things that make this city great.
To those who have pushed forward when they could have kept things as they were, we salute you.