Wimberley's A Special Place, But Will It Last?

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By Rocky Boschert

I travel quite frequently. If I’m not traveling for business, then it’s with my wife on vacations to foreign countries -- mainly in the Americas. And the more I travel and see what is going on around this hemisphere, it doesn’t take me long to look forward to eventually coming back home to Wimberley.

Now don’t get me wrong. If I were single, I probably wouldn’t live in Wimberley. The problem for single people in Wimberley is there’s really no place to go and meet other single people (unless you consider church a singles meeting place). But that’s OK; single people can go to Austin and San Marcos for their social needs.

What makes Wimberley such a special place, in spite of the annoying home spotlights installed by Houston migrants, is the diversity in the Wimberley Valley. In this beautiful valley we have right wing nationalists, left wing progressives, conservative Democrats, intelligent Republicans (you know, the old guard “government should stay out of our lives, don’t attack countries that don’t attack us first, anti-corporate welfare” types), old hippies, young hippies, evangelical conservatives, evangelical liberals, illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, and a sizable dose of simple free market, middle class families. We also have our share of great musicians, fine artists, and other creative types.

With all that human diversity, people are almost always tolerant and friendly (unless you let slip that Bush is a high level lobbyist for the weapons manufacturers and oil companies). And for the most part, Wimberley residents love their children and are strong family advocates. Overall, my wife and I are lucky to live among such a condensed population of common sense, tolerant, good hearted folks.

From a business standpoint, Wimberley is mostly a healthy free enterprise environment. We are not a corporate town and we all do our best to support local businesses. Yes, there is a fair share of crony patronage going on at the local and county level, but that seems to be the human condition -- at least under the blind, pro-business mantra so endemic in Texas. Unfortunately, government is no longer seen as the necessary but useful vehicle that fills the needs of society the private sector can’t fill. For the most part, government’s role now (or should I say the role of our elected officials) is to use economic rhetoric to funnel our tax dollars to businesses and corporations as crony patronage payments. We see it at the local and county level quite clearly. But hey, that’s another article.

In the end, if Wimberley (and Hays County) residents can stay in touch with keeping the local environment healthy and keeping our healthy economy local, I look forward to living here a long time. On the other hand, if we as a community decide to go the way of greedy growth and mindless development, then I may have to reconsider my life choices.

If the latter occurs, maybe I’ll start a business providing rent-a-cop security for the gated, primarily Caucasian communities that would pop up. Or, if we really go the way of cutesy gentrification, I can sell my perfectly comfortable, modernized, energy efficient river house to the highest bidder with the money to tear it down and build a new two-story, utility-guzzling structure on my modest one-quarter acre.

Which begs the questions: “Which way is the ‘Wimberley Way’?”

Rocky Boschert has resided in Wimberley since 1993. He currently serves as board president of the Katherine Anne Porter School (KAPS) in Wimberley. Mr. Boschert owns and manages Arrowhead Asset Management.