Polluted and hidden behind downtown buildings and overgrown brush, rivers were overlooked and taken for granted in West Virginia and around the nation.

Now cities in the state are taking a fresh, new look at local waterways. Instead of just being a shipping path for large cargo or a water supply for local industries, rivers now are seen as a recreational haven and a hot spot for economic development.

Morgantown, Fairmont, Wheeling, Point Pleasant and Charleston all either have already developed recreational and entertainment areas along their rivers or are looking into it.

"In the past, rivers were often industrial, and access to the shores was private. That kept people away," said Betsy Otto, senior director for river advocacy for American Rivers, a nonprofit conservation group based in Washington, D.C. "Now people are more interested in outdoor recreation, and rivers, instead of being hidden from the public, are becoming the front yard for communities. It's what you want everyone to see."

And opening that front yard may help cities do what they want more than anything -- grow.

"We live in a go-go society, and the question is how do you handle that. Population will increase. There will be more freight being shipped and more need for housing. We just have to get it here, and that is what this is all about -- finding a way to bring people into the state, bring jobs into the state and generating more tax dollars," said Patrick Donovan, riverfront development coordinator with the West Virginia Department of Transportation. "Cities are West Virginia's future, and rivers are the key to the cities' future."

Changing Currents

Riverfront development is not new. Since the 1970s and 1980s, cities around the nation, such as Portland, Ore., Chicago and Baltimore, have worked to transform old, forgotten factories, warehouses and shipping docks into trendy recreational, entertainment, residential and retail properties.

Part of the reason for the change, Otto said, was that river uses have changed dramatically during the past few decades. While rivers are still used as a major transportation route for goods, a lot of factories and plants that once were required to locate next to a river now either have closed, moved out or changed practices so river access is not as critical.

"The structure of the economy changed, and it really opened up the river," she said.

That economic shift left communities with prime land near rivers sitting empty and forlorn. And instead of waiting for a different industry, cities realized the land could offer benefits to them and their residents.

Otto said people's views of their cities also have changed during the past few decades. She said instead of people wanting to always move out of cities and into suburbs, people's eyes have turned back to central business districts with interest and a sense of nostalgia.

"There is more interest in community character and community connectivity," Otto said. "People want to go to a city's downtown and be near others and have a clean, safe place to go. They want to be able to ride their bike or walk downtown and see green space and the river and just enjoy the trip."

Now West Virginia cities are following down that path, looking for ways to maximize their local rivers to increase tourism, improve residents' quality of life and boost local tax bases.

And Otto couldn't be happier to see the change.

"One of (West Virginia's) best assets is your scenic beauty and natural resources," she said. "The state really is in a lovely position because it has resources to begin with. The rivers are beautiful, and you have so many."

Building on the Shores

Land along waterways is a natural region to develop, Otto said, because people have an innate desire to be near water. They like to look at it. They like to be near it.

Young professionals especially want to work in places that offer them access to recreational areas. They also want to live in communities that appear well-kept.Green space and recreational space is an important part of that. And if the riverfronts are well developed, they can attract residents and tourists.

Donovan said cities always are looking for new ways to bring visitors in for a day, a weekend or longer. Developing land along rivers, especially big rivers such as the Ohio, Kanawha and Monongahela, is a key way to do that.

Boaters want a place to dock, fill up on gas, eat at nice restaurants, shop and relax on solid land, he said. And people with especially big boats -- those longer than 26 feet -- want a place to stay for a few days where they can explore and enjoy life.

And there are plenty of West Virginians who fit that bill. In fact, Donovan said there are more than 1,100 boats longer than 26 feet that are registered with the state.

"Those boats are like RVs on the water," Donovan said. "And a person with a 26-foot boat has a lot of disposable income."

Riverfront development also makes communities appealing to large tour boats, be it a sternwheeler such as the Delta Queen or other types of touring boats.

Donovan said making a river's edge appealing makes it easier for a city to market itself to tour companies that decide where boats should stop and dock for a few hours or a few days.

"There are peaks and valleys in the tour boat industry, just like any type of tourism," he said. "Cities have to market themselves. And developing the river is just another tool in their box."

But riverfront development is about a lot more than creating parks and amphitheaters, trendy stores and quaint restaurants, Donovan said. It's about wisely using land to create jobs be it in the service sector or in industrial and warehousing jobs.

"Not everything has to be soccer-park green," he said. "We need brownfield remediation and find a way to reuse industrial sites, manage it and clean it up. Warehouses and distribution plants are an ideal strategy to use ports and provide a buffer."

Behind the Wake

Yet not every city is jumping on the riverfront development trend. Both Charleston and Huntington are behind a lot of other West Virginia cities in terms of improving the land along the river banks. Charleston is trying to establish a plan. But Huntington has no plans right now for developing its riverfront more.

"I understand Huntington has been really focused on Pullman Square recently," Donovan said.

"And city leaders are struggling with so many other big issues that it's hard for us to say, 'You really need to fly out to this other city to see what they are doing with their riverfront.'"

That's especially true when cities across the state are struggling to solve huge pension debts, declining tax revenues and population that is migrating outside of city limits.

Otto and Donovan said riverfront development is something cities need to start looking at now if they want to compete against other cities for young professionals and trendy industries.

"People love water. They are drawn to it," Otto said. "And they want to be in cities where they cannot only see the water but have access to it and feel safe doing it."

But for riverfront development to be successful, Donovan said, it requires land-use planning by city leaders and for the community to buy into that plan.

Land may have to be zoned for specific uses. City ordinances may have to be rewritten. Formerly abandoned riverfront areas need to be cleaned up of both litter and crime.

It's not an easy task. It takes years rather than months to get property rights transferred, design plans written, ordinances written and approved and buildings, pedestrian paths and buildings either constructed or renovated.

"A good riverfront plan has a multi-decade scope," Otto said. "It evolves over time and changes as a city changes to better match what residents want."

And in the end, that evolution could create a front yard of which everyone in the community can be proud.

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