(In 1994, a team of Redding journalists produced a series of stories that attempted to predict life in Redding in the year 2020. Greg Clark, who was part of that team, takes a look at just how accurate that crystal ball was.)
Burning eight days of pricey newsprint to squint at life in 2020 was more than an exercise in predicting the future. Heck, Zoltar could have done the same for a quarter — and likely be just as accurate.
No, the Record Searchlight’s “North State — A 2020 Vision” was not so much about where we’ll be in 25 years as where we are going. And how will we get there?
Robert Edkin had been editor of the Record Searchlight for 22 years when he blessed the project — as enthusiastically as anything the paper had done in those two decades. Not long after, he’d retire as editor, and perhaps he knew this would be the last big charge he’d lead in the saddle. By his own admission, it was “one of the more exciting projects” he’d captained in those years. He wanted it to do good — to jump start Redding’s leaders and followers to pay attention to the city’s road ahead, not just the destination. If you want to live in a castle, you’ll need more than scrap wood and mud bricks.
As he noted in a final commentary, the role of the Sacramento River through Redding flowed through much of the series, with experts and everyday citizens foreseeing its value to the city in 2020 and beyond. The optimistic view was that the precious resource would be protected and available to those of us today. If we muster up our imagination, courage and good sense, Redding citizens will continue a “profound and lasting relationship” with the river for years to come. If we botch it, the Sacramento will be an afterthought, choked with private homes and pollution, little more than a storm drain to the Pacific. In essence, we can keep the artery healthy or choke it with Cheez-Its.
Photo from turtlebay.org.
Of all the 2020 Vision stories, those predicting the river’s future were pleasingly accurate. They talked about the future Turtle Bay Museum as a magnet for visitors to the city and the river corridor. Visions of a bird sanctuary and arboretum were offered, along with a nearby motel, and a vast network of walking and biking trails stretching as far as Shasta Dam. All of these, of course, have become a reality, but at the time they were as much as 20 years off.
Part of that vision, though, was a vibrant Park Marina Drive District, an “entertainment and shopping mecca,” where visitors could “eat at trendy restaurants” and snatch up souvenirs for their grandchildren at one of the many shops. Um, no — unless your idea of fine dining is a Big Gulp and gas station sushi or the grandkids crave trinkets from The Beadman.
On the bright side, what leaders envisioned as a modest pedestrian bridge connecting the arboretum and museum, morphed into the Sundial Bridge, a world-renowned civic icon. The five more bridges predicted over the Sacramento River didn’t happen, but the city, state and feds have pumped major money into our two major crossings.
Sundial Bridge photo from turtlebay.org.
What no one saw in his or her crystal ball for 2020 was a Sacramento River as a homeless hotel. While residents worried at the time about condos and riprap marring the riverbanks in 2020, none envisioned transient camps and human pollution staining the scenic byways. That, alas, was a blindspot in the 2020 vision.
And on that subject, it’s helpful to look at what else wasn’t on the radar for 2020. There was no mention of a Great Recession, financial meltdown or housing implosion, let alone a rebound to all-time stock market heights. Closer to home, no one predicted we’d be turning our parks into prison yards or scrambling to find ways to put people in housing — any kind of housing — instead of setting up camp on the streets. Even Nostradamus would have come up blank there.
Looking into the future is tricky business. Hats off to those who ventured to stake their names to their visions 20 years ago and let them live in cyberspace forever. Not because they were right on target or laughingly off base, but because they cared enough to have a vision.
Edkin said it best: “Success doesn’t just happen, but disaster can…It all depends on what we do — not 25 years from now, but beginning today.”
We are stuck with 2020, pimples or prom queen, but the future is still ours to shape or screw up. Our 2020 vision is a thing of the past. It’s time to look ahead.
What do you think? What does Redding 2045 look like and how should we get there? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Click here to see 2020 Vision Part 1: Growth, Economy, Transportation
Click here to see 2020 Vision Part 2: Education, Homes, Crime
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