By Tom Baker |


“A fully honest, robust examination of our community’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is needed. Although it’s been done before, those elements are dynamic, changing with the make-up of the citizenry, which has been significant since the advent of COVID and remote work opportunities. The complexity of the residents’ needs, wants, and desires is rapidly changing.”
-Tom Baker


It’s an interesting turn that, as my wife Kathy and I head for a new adventure, I am given the opportunity to express my thoughts on our small coastal town, one in which so many profess so much PRIDE. This is one of the largest municipalities we’ve lived in during our 45 years together; in all honesty, it causes me to giggle just a bit when I hear so many speak with near reverence about their small town. But I continually remind myself that most of the folks living in Ocean Shores hail from mega-metro areas, and to them Ocean Shores is, indeed, a very small burg.

We raised our girls in a town of 350 year-round residents. Real shopping was 110 miles away in a city of 15,000. It was an idyllic existence, and one where we ensured that our daughters saw that a real world existed in large cities at least a couple of times each year. The remainder of our lives have been spent in smallish communities as well.

And what does this have to do with “My Thoughts on Ocean Shores?” For all of those years living in small towns, we struggled—along with our small-town neighbors—to deal with the questions of growth/no growth, tourism, progress, and economic survival, just as we do in Ocean Shores. The conversations have always been similar; the challenges, nearly identical.

Add to our localities, the fact that we participated in many of the familiar community engagement opportunities: volunteer fire department; volunteer Ambulance Corp; Chamber of Commerce (for several years our home phone was the Chamber contact number); Economic Development Steering Committee; county-level Economic Development Corporation Board; regional planning commissions, and community planning initiatives up the wazoo! During my career with the National Park Service, I was intimately involved in community development efforts (never knew the NPS was interested in such matters, did you?). Community engagement and appropriate planning for historical areas were a major element of my career.

I cite my ‘creds’ for the simple reason that it’s all too easy to dismiss off-hand any new blood in a small community—someone who blows into town from afar with “big city ideas.” I don’t, nor have ever claimed to be an expert in such matters, but I do bring a certain perspective to the table that may or may not be of value to the residents of Ocean Shores. It’s your choice whether to lend it any credence or not.

Ocean Shores is in a relatively unique position: while it certainly meets the 50-year threshold of a historic community, beyond the recently contemporary Pat Boone story, there really are no compelling historic, character-defining features. There are no iconic historic structures. The few that could theoretically qualify, could be anywhere in the world. They don’t define Ocean Shores culture, primarily because we lack that element, which puts us in the unique position of working from a veritable blank slate. That could be perceived as a strong positive in our favor!

Our history lies entirely within the stories that nobody wants to talk about, namely, the indigenous connection to the land and sea. The physical structure of our ‘downtown’ has no discernable cohesive planning. This is not an indictment, simply a statement of fact. The indictment lies in the matter that so many don’t want it to change!

There is and has always been one major flaw in that consistent argument from one small community to the next: change is going to happen. Period. It is as unavoidable as taxes and death. Our choices aren’t all that complicated. We can either choose to do nothing, in which case the change will come in the form of unwanted slow decay and deterioration (which has already reached an advanced state), or we can control change/progress in a thoughtful deliberate manner for the greater good of the community.

True community planning, which results in a significantly higher quality of life for all residents and businesses, comes from a fully open process, one in which all stakeholders are welcomed to the table. Advocates for working people, retirees, LGBTQ+ communities (with advocates for each sub-group), indigenous nations, businesses, schools/academics, tourism, artists, outdoor enthusiasts, shut-ins, people with physical and/or mental challenges, and yes, even advocates for our transient communities, all bring value to the discussion of Ocean Shores’ future. The broader the net is cast, the richer the ultimate results.

A fully honest, robust examination of our community’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is needed. Although it’s been done before, those elements are dynamic, changing with the make-up of the citizenry, which has been significant since the advent of COVID and remote work opportunities. The complexity of the residents’ needs, wants, and desires is rapidly changing.

From that frank genesis, it becomes possible for diverse stakeholders to work as a team, exploring alternatives that consider diverse points of view that can be molded into comprehensive, conscious visions and decisions for desired future conditions. There are ample opportunities to combine the components of a beautiful, walkable downtown area with outlying development. Perhaps facilities that enhance the already vibrant arts community, or developing components that enhance active lifestyles complimented by thoughtful elements of universal access which could add significantly to the overall quality of life for Ocean Shores.

None of these thoughts are prescriptive, but rather serve to make the point that sights need to be set high. Unbiased, professional community planning groups are available to conduct the stakeholder meetings and collaboratively develop charettes to consider for the thoughtful, deliberate development of Ocean Shores. There can be a much brighter future for small towns that languish in stale air and staler attitudes. Ensure that Ocean Shores becomes a model of community development—love your community and love your life.


Tom Baker was born, bred, and schooled in southwest Detroit amid all that its music implies. Migrated to the woods and shores of Lake Superior for 40+ years. Former design-builder, cabinetmaker, and still woodturner. Nearly 30 years with the National Park Service until 2018 retirement. Dad of two; grampa of five; friend of many; enriched life beyond his wildest dreams.
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