By: Chloe Cory
Opelika, which means “large swamp” in the Muskogee language, is the county seat of Lee County in east Alabama. Opelika, which grew up around busy railroad tracks, was a commerce town, especially known for the shipment of cotton to the North.
The town was incorporated in 1854 and still sits along many railroad lines, according to an article written by Business View Magazine in 2020.
Today, Opelika is a hub for revitalization with a population of nearly 30,000. According to Business View Magazine, the two largest employers are Auburn University and East Alabama Medical Center.
The city is doing a multitude of projects to inspire change. Some of them are smaller, like the moving of Mama Mocha’s coffee shop from Auburn, to bigger projects like booming housing projects.
Downtown Opelika:
Downtown Opelika has grown in the past ten years. The U.S. Census estimated that the city of Opelika added 4,649 residents, an 18 percent increase, according to an article written by Abby Driggers for the OA News. Once-empty buildings have been filled with restaurants, breweries and shopping spaces, said Ken Ward, the executive director at Opelika Mainstreet.
Opelika is one of the 29 cities to be a part of the Main Street Alabama Organization. This program provides resources like funding and professional development to cities going through revitalization efforts.
“He and the board have been instrumental in the revitalization and the retention of business owners in downtown Opelika,” said Russel Jones, the City Clerk of Opelika.
One of the initiatives of Main Street Opelika is a comprehensive facade enhancement program with matching grants to fund the exterior of buildings. The Community Development Block Grant funds it and allows for property owners to apply for a 50 percent match for up to $7,000 per property, according to the City of Opelika website.
Ward focuses on the downtown piece of the revitalization efforts. He said he believes that it reverberated through the entire city. He said that being an active community member is “the civic-minded” thing to do to help the nice people who make Opelika home.
“Part of being a good citizen is looking out for your neighbors and community. We need to make sure everything is moving forward. That’s a key part of that,” Ward said, referring to the work of Main Street Opelika.
“In the next ten years, we will see more people living downtown near Opelika. It will have more restaurants and shops, as there will be more foot traffic. I also see the current empty buildings being full, as real estate is in high demand currently in downtown Opelika. We will continue to see a diversity of types of businesses in Opelika. I think we are going to continue to see more of that as online and in-person shopping continue to thrive,” Ward said.
Moving Forward:
Today, Opelika is a bustling town with new commerce opportunities. “It is young adult-oriented, and they are moving toward a multitude of things instead of focusing on one niche,” Jonathan Helms, a junior in chemical engineering at Auburn University said. “At the trajectory it
is going at, I think it is going to have more food and niche options. It will continue to grow and prosper.”
Now the thing to remember is that not everyone embraces change. Some residents fear the growth and change is coming too fast. Concerns are taken up with the City Council. They have created a balancing act of trying to keep Opelika authentic for their residents.
“Fortunately, the local historic district has a board which will upkeep the looks of historic Opelika. Outside of that, hopefully it will become denser and more walkable,” said Dr. Rebecca Retzlaff, a professor in community planning at Auburn University.
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