Region Creates A Down-Home Feel
Published Aug 18, 2009
St. Marys Waterfront Park in the Camden County community’s historic downtown
The community of Darien – population 1,800 – has a lot going for it, including the distinction of having four individual rivers flowing through it.
It is the second-oldest city in Georgia after Savannah, and a successful shrimping and commercial fishing destination. Numerous boats annually come up the Darien River to dock and unload there, taking advantage of the city’s location just eight miles from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
Darien also boasts an active downtown district – so much so that it has earned a 2009 Better Hometown designation by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Office of Downtown Development, one of several Coastal Georgia communities to earn praise for creating vibrant town centers.
The Better Hometown designation recognizes historic preservation efforts and downtown revitalization plans that include streetscapes and building façade renovations, says Frank Feild, community development director for the city of Darien.
Feild points out that Darien is home to the Altamaha Scenic Byway, one of only 12 scenic byways in all of Georgia.
“This beautiful byway and our four rivers are allowing us to develop an ecotourism industry, which I believe will become one of the hottest tourism sectors in the near future,” he says. “And having a Better Hometown designation certainly doesn’t hurt.”
Darien shares the Better Hometown designation with communities including Pembroke in Bryan County, Sylvania in Screven County and Woodbine in Camden County.
A number of other cities in Coastal Georgia have been awarded a Main Street designation.
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs oversees both the Better Hometown and Main Street programs.
To apply for a Better Hometown designation, a city must have a population under 5,000 according to the 2000 U.S. census, while a Main Street city must have a population between 5,000 and 50,000.
Brunswick in Glynn County, Statesboro in Bulloch County and St. Marys in Camden County are among Coastal Georgia communities that have received Main Street recognition.
Brunswick has earned Main Street accreditation every year since it first applied in 1986, says Mathew Hill, executive director of the Brunswick Downtown Development Authority.
“We must requalify every year, and we have successfully been reaccredited every year,” he says. “We are proud of our record – and our downtown.”
Brunswick generated public and private investment of $8.3 million in its 167-block district in 2008 alone.
“Being a Main Street program is prestigious, but a community has to work hard to become one,” Hill says. “Here in downtown Brunswick, we indeed work hard.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
Photo by Brian McCord
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