The help Trump promised hasnt come. So this dying city is determined to save itself.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-help-trump-promised-hasn’t-come-so-this-‘dying-city’-is-determined-to-save-itself/ar-AApJVHz?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout


As the sun set along the widened expanses of the St. Johns River, Palatka Mayor Terrill Hill grabbed a cooler filled with beer and climbed aboard the Pride of Palatka. Inside the red-and-white riverboat sat a group of visiting environmental enthusiasts, eager to see the attraction locals hoped could revive the rural town they love.

Sam Carr, a Palatka native who runs a local outdoor activities promotion group, told passengers they’d soon be immersed in a waterworld of green marshes and moss and mangroves, of tall birds wading in the current and alligators lingering in the water.

The travelers hoped the old river might be the key to a prosperous future for a rural community that, like many others across the United States, has been largely left behind by the modern economy. They envision bed-and-breakfasts along the water, condominiums rising for retirees who might prize the view, and tourists flocking to experience a rare pocket of undisturbed, natural Florida.

“This is our best thing,” Carr said.

As Carr continued his talk, the sky turned dark and gray. The waves rose, and, in the distance, lightning flashed.

“We have to leave the boat,” he said as the group began to evacuate.

The return to the river would have to wait.

Palatka, a city of 10,400 swaddled by potato farms and a paper mill that employs a small fraction of the workers it once did, is desperate for an economy to call its own.

Abandoned by retailers that have moved out of their city, and disappointed that President Trump hasn’t yet delivered on his promise to restore economic opportunity to small communities, the people here say they don’t have much choice.

The alternative would be to allow their beloved home to become the next example of a dying American small town. To help save it, some have started homegrown carwashes and small restaurants and bars selling craft beers. Others have worked with developers to build apartments downtown. And officials here are striving to turn the riverfront, a resource that is unique to their city, into a future hub for tourism and a draw for retirees.

“We have to tap into our locals, our entrepreneurial spirit and our aspirations to substitute what is happening around us,” said Hill, 44, who grew up here, left to get degrees from Howard University and the University of Florida, and returned to open a law practice.