Forget about the major markets — if the long tail theory holds true, it’s content from and about small towns that should benefit, however modestly, from this new distribution model. Millions online are now entirely familiar with tiny French village Marly-Gomont thanks to Kamini’s viral hit. But what about all the other distant dots on the map?
I’ve spent the last week with family in Washington State, and partly inspired by Minnesota Stories curator Chuck Olsen’s habit of searching for local video online, figured I’d see what I could find from Eastern Snohomish County. What I came up with is a tour of some of the highlights of the region, as well as a little life behind the scenes, which made for entertainment only a local — or those who wish they were — could love.
How to get there? Well you can drive from Seattle to Lake Stevens, gateway to the upper reaches of the Stillaguamish watershed, which takes about forty minutes — unless you speed up the footage and put it to a pulsing soundtrack, in which case it’s a manic sprint of only five. Alternately, you can fly from the airport in Snohomish to Darrington for a more scenic trip with much less traffic.
Football is huge in Snohomish County, and no game is bigger than the annual matchup between Everett and Lake Stevens (embedded above). It’s all part of growing up in the exurbs like tiny Granite Falls — from goofing off to fitting in to making fun of the local drunks.
While it may not be the most glamorous place in the world to grow up, the North Cascades are a paradise for outdoorsy types. From climbing Mt. Pilchuck to sliding down it on your rear end to hiking the Big Four Ice Caves trail, scaling Exfoliation Dome to peaking on Whitehorse Mountain, there are plenty of noble sights from lofty heights. For the less vertically inclined, the old Everett and Monte Cristo railroad makes for a leisurely and historic stroll.
The South Fork of the Stillaguamish, where I usually stay, floods every few years during storms, often changing the landscape overnight. The latest flood washed out many sections of the Mountain Loop Highway which connects the North Fork and the South Fork over Barlow Pass. The North Fork is more famous for fish than floods — native salmon annually spawn and die, and both the North Fork and Sauk River have good runs of magnificent steelhead trout.
While Internet access isn’t great in some of these mountain towns, the proximity of techies commuting from nearby suburbs probably means a more savvy population than average. Still, I was amazed at how much content there was to be found. Publishing video online gives local communities a chance to reach out beyond their small town confines and connect, instead of just ocassionally making the nightly news when a sensational crime occurs. So go search for a small town close to your heart, and you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.
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