Our city was founded in 1836.
The name Auburn and the phrase “The Loveliest Village on the Plains” come from a poem titled “The Deserted Village.”
It was published in 1770 by Oliver Goldsmith. The poem presents that happiness is not found in powerful economics. True loveliness comes from within the village and everything it stands for.
The poem's 11 pages of rhyme and rhythm affirm the message that the village is not lovely because of the external opulence it brings from afar. Power, greed and overextension always lead to discontentment, corruption and destruction.
The opening line reads, “Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain” and names characteristics like smiling, healthy, innocence, ease, humble happiness, charm and cultivated farm.
These are very applicable to what we understand the City of Auburn to be, and it’s no wonder why we have fostered such an attachment to this archaic poem and its words.
Auburn is historic and has an abundance of rich and charming heritage. We are a town marked by simple pleasures: family, agriculture, education, hard work, good character, classy gamedays, unique tradition, natural beauty, orange and blue sunsets, Toomer’s lemonade and so many wholesome trademarks.
We believe in Auburn and love it. That’s a refrain dear to every citizen’s — and student’s — heart.
Over the past 187 years, Auburn has developed while still remaining faithful to its character and purpose. It has urbanized and expanded to invite and include more people into its loveliness.
Auburn has remained Auburn from the founding of a university 20 years after the city’s establishment to the construction of a multi-million dollar football facility. Our town has been our town from the first cabin to the most modern Publix on East University Drive.
From pharmacy to souvenir shop — Toomer’s Drugs to Toomer’s corner — we have proven to be adaptable to the times, while always remaining fearless and true to who we are. We have grown and developed. We are not the 19th century village we once were, but we are still Auburn.
This is why dramatic and capricious acts of urbanization ruffle so many feathers.
The City of Auburn has recently approved plans for an apartment complex with units starting at $2 million, directly across from Toomer’s.
It disrupts the heartbeat of the culture, interrupts the aesthetic of the downtown area and threatens to trade a modest culture for lavish economic gain.
Motives must be called into question. Is this best for the community? Who is the target audience for these apartments? Can the general demographic of Auburn afford these units? Why does it have to be in the heart of downtown? Will it push out loyal citizens who cannot keep up with inflating economics?
They will most likely be gameday condos, purchased by rich fans and inhabited for a few weekends out of the year — not for students although that location would be prime, nor for families although downtown is usually so accommodating for family lifestyles.
Not all modern extensions are bad, however. For example, the Graduate Hotel in construction on West Magnolia Avenue will be a service to the community. This project has marketed itself as “inspired by local history and campus legends” and is even using brick to match the university’s campus.
This project is expensive and will take the place of a beloved Auburn site, Anders Bookstore. However, it is a welcomed development because it has communicated a desire to be a part of the town and the family that is Auburn.
The apartment project on the corner of College and Magnolia has not communicated that message. It has not been well received by the community, and it seems like more of a money grab than a contribution to our town.
If the city continues to move forward with this plan, it will undeniably affect the small-town atmosphere. Auburn has shown itself capable of taking on modernizations, but $2 million apartments stray too far from its core values and character.
Like Goldsmith said in his poem, wisdom and faithfulness to one’s character are more important than “trade’s proud empire” which “hastes to swift decay.”
Modernization should not be empire building. It should be for the greater good, to preserve and strengthen the great values that are already there — not bring in unfamiliar aggrandizements that clash with and overshadow identity.
Urbanization of our town has been good, but this new development is taking a different, startling direction. Its presence right across from Auburn’s crown jewel poses a looming threat to everything Auburn stands for.
We need to remain true to our core values if we want to continue as the Loveliest Village on the Plains. Otherwise, we will urbanize ourselves into obsolescence.
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Sami Grace Donnelly, junior in English literature, began writing for the Plainsman in the Fall of 2021. She has served as a columnist, the Opinion Editor and is now a writer abroad during her exchange program in Spain.
