News & Announcements

Integrative Session Looks at Coupeville
06/28/04

Students at the Au Sable Pacific Rim campus spent Thursday, June 24, discovering how a small town – in this case, Coupeville, Washington – becomes the ‘place’ it is.

Consistent with Au Sable’s commitment to ‘integration’, the students and professors began the day with a town ‘walk-around’, in order to learn as much as possible about Coupeville.  Ecological, social, economic and cultural perspectives all came into play in a tour that was planned by the students.

The town tour was followed by a session and barbecue with Mayor Nancy Conard, who shared her experiences of living in Coupeville as well as her vision for its future.  Mayor Conard has lived in Coupeville all but one year of her life, and is now in her third term as mayor.

Dr. Larry Cort joined the group as well.  Dr. Cort is the Senior Planner for the city of Oak Harbor, just north of Coupeville, and was formerly the Coupeville Town Planner. His knowledge of the history of the two towns, as well as his practical experience working in the planning offices of both, gave the students a great opportunity to understand how two almost identical places, as Oak Harbor and Coupeville once were, can develop so very differently. 

Coupeville has remained small, with strong and visible ties to the past; Oak Harbor, with a Navy airbase and very different perspectives on growth, has become a much more developed and ‘modern’ city.  And yet, as Dr. Cort pointed out, the two communities need each other and continue to exist in a symbiotic relationship:  Residents of Coupeville need to go to Oak Harbor for almost any large scale purchase; and those of Oak Harbor find themselves coming to Coupeville for the kind of small town experience that is no longer part of their city.

Both Mayor Conard and Dr. Cort expressed how pleased they are that Au Sable is part of the larger Whidbey Island community, contributing to the quality of life in their communities and beyond.

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