The psychology of beauty is undeniable. Studies show people prefer pretty people and pretty places. We are more drawn to buy from attractive sales people or beautiful models. We are more inclined to give preference to pretty people in everything from being the teacher’s favorite to being lenient in administering punishments. We vacation in beautiful places.
Psychologists have found it is the face that makes the difference when a decision is made about what constitutes beauty.
It is time for Starkville to engage in some more cosmetic surgery to make our face the best it can be. I say more because some of the attention we have given to landscaping and signage in the past eight years has vastly improved the face we offer to the visiting public.
One of the oft-cited reasons for the need comes from the lingering specter of a quote attributed to a former state economic development director who said something along the lines of “Starkville does the least with the most.” First impressions are formed and anything beyond that either builds on the first impression or must work very hard to counteract it. Starkville has often been accused of making an awful first impression. We are striving to change that image, but for some longtime residents it is an uphill struggle against their desired status quo.
Granted, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are some accepted norms for standards that are considered beautiful in people, landscapes, and architecture. I think I am on solid ground when I say the plain metal building in and of itself does not constitute beauty. Absent a large quantity of stock in Gulf States, I don’t believe that most would find the external beauty of the exposed metal building to be in the beautiful category. Functional, absolutely; less expensive, absolutely; attractive, not so much.
This has become an issue in Starkville because the Board of Aldermen is taking up the idea of adopting design standards for the commercially zoned areas of town. It is a move long overdue and should be another step helping us achieve that elusive quality-of-life element. A big thumbs up to Alderman David Little of Ward 3 for moving that ball down the road.
Starkville leaders have been advised by the study commissioned through the new Golden Triangle Link that quality of life is a major piece of the puzzle that will lead to our economic success. The presence or absence of beauty directly impacts quality of life. It also sends the message of a community taking pride in its appearance and enforcing that pride through minimum standards of construction materials.
The ordinance modification put forward last week was a simple one-page document requiring the use of a percentage of certain materials in limited areas. Does it outlaw metal buildings? It clearly does not. What it does do is require that those metal buildings be overlaid or clad with materials that are architecturally attractive, such as masonry or stucco.
Proof of the importance of making areas attractive to promote economic development is validated by the plans for the new Innovation District. According to Joe Max Higgins, who is the community’s gold standard guru of all things economic development, there will be covenants in place to require those new high-end manufacturing buildings to present an attractive public front including putting a facade on the metal buildings.
The first public discussion of the matter brought out a few of the Gulf States employees both past and present who took great exception to the design standard concept. Unfortunately they took the intention to be banning the buildings instead of requiring the additional effort to make them more than functional.
The new design standards would have prevented the wonderfully functional yet sadly unappealing building recently erected on Yellowjacket Drive across from the Starkville High School. The added landscaping and benches vastly improved the aesthetic appeal of the area. The old shopping center across the way likewise dressed itself up and made some cosmetic changes to improve its curb appeal.
Louisville Street has also recently received an extensive revitalization of the roadway itself including landscaping and sidewalks. All of these improvements made the addition of this one metal building all the more striking in contrast to its neighbors’ beautification efforts.
Beauty may not be its own excuse for being, but it sure makes a helluva difference in how we are perceived by others. It is well past time for us to believe we can be beautiful even if it is a slow process and requires some extra effort. After all we know that beauty isn’t cheap, on doesn’t happen overnight, but the payoff can far outweigh the cost in the long run.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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