By Jack Houvouras
HQ 31 | SPRING 1998
The Spring 1998 edition of the Huntington Quarterly is a bit of a departure from our normal editorial format. Instead of publishing six or seven in-depth features, we have compiled a number of shorter stories in the form of a City Guide. Designed to help foster a more positive image of our community, HQ‘s City Guide chronicles much of what our region has to offer including entertainment, shopping, recreation, dining, health care, education, culture, lifestyle and more.
A number of cities across the country publish City Guides on an annual basis as a way to educate their readers and visitors about the numerous amenities of their community. Additional copies are often printed and distributed by various business and civic groups to recruit people to the area. The guides also promote tourism in the region. With so much to offer, the Huntington area was in need of a similar publication and we decided to make it a reality.
In addition to the City Guide portion of the magazine, we have published two feature articles including an interview with Ashland Incorporated Chairman and C.E.O. Paul Chellgren. Ironically, some of Chellgren’s comments concerning the Tri-State region directly relate to the City Guide. When asked to discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Tri-State region, Chellgren explained, “This region has enormous strengths including the stability and quality of the work force, the fundamental values of the people, the comfortable lifestyle. So you are dealing with an area that has a lot of advantages.
“It has many challenges and shortcomings as well that are reflected in the fact that as a SMSA, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, over the last 10 to 20 to 30 years, it’s population has been stable or shrinking in comparison with other more rapidly growing metropolitan areas.” Chellgren’s remarks speak directly to one of the region’s most vital issues: finding ways to expand the population base.
As part of our contribution to this challenge, we have created a City Guide that will help spread the word about the Huntington, West Virginia community – one of the best kept secrets in America.
