If you’ve never been to what’s effectively the ghost town of Rodney in Jefferson County, it’s worth the drive.

Walking or driving through what was originally downtown Rodney is interesting, if not a little creepy.

You see, almost all of Rodney’s population dried up years and years ago as the Mississippi River changed course effectively leaving the river town abandoned.

Eventually, its population slowly moved away, too.

Many people in Natchez-Adams County have a fear, at least a small inkling of a fear, that our community may be slowly becoming another Rodney.

Such a thought seems a bit outlandish at first blush.

Rodney, as far as I know, was never a huge population center. Natchez was, and is, a bit of a regional hub for Southwest Mississippi.

But it’s difficult not to become discouraged after seeing the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest forecasts of population estimates for the area.

The latest shows additional population losses for Natchez, Adams County and Concordia Parish.

Less people means our community is shrinking. Geographically, we’re the same size, so infrastructure needs are the same. For example, city, county and parish governments must still provide roads, drainage and police protection for the same physical area, but with decreasing resources.

Natchez has a handful of visionaries — folks who have grand plans for what the area needs and should build. Those are all great to have. Were the choice to live in a community in which people dreamed big versus one in which they didn’t, clearly most of us would choose the former rather than the latter.

However, Natchez appears to be at a crossroads and the Census numbers are the caution sign that we can either heed or ignore. If the area has a shrinking population, that trend must become our area’s singular focus.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: What do we want Natchez, Adams County and Concordia Parish to look like in the next five, 10 or 20 years?

If we’re all OK with the area slowly shriveling up over time, not unlike the small Jefferson County town of Rodney, perhaps we should do nothing.

If we collectively see that as a big problem, one that requires an intense and unwavering focus, then we all must stop dreaming big and dreaming in different directions and start planning together.

The Natchez area has some fabulous things going for it. The area is a great, low-stress place to live. A tough commute here is, what, 10 minutes from one side of town to the other? Perhaps 15 if you live in the rural parts of the county?

Lots of people in the community — including many downtown Natchez businesses and city leaders — have suggested the area must focus on retail development. I don’t disagree with that thought, but question the timing slightly.

Few national retailers will consider building a new store in an area in which the population is declining. It would be like investing in a house that magically shrinks in size each year.

And many locals who have started retail specialty shops have struggled to find a broad enough customer base to allow their sapling businesses to take root.

Rather than having a number of groups pulling in different directions at once, the Natchez area badly needs to focus on a couple of core areas including:

4Consolidating city and county governments quickly could potentially help shrink the size of government, thus allowing better services and either lower taxes or a stronger investment in efforts to recruit more jobs to the area.

4Working together — city, county, both sides of the river, etc. — on marketing our area just makes sense. We continue to have two economic development arms, two chambers, etc.

4Our community must create a plan to improve the quality of life for residents. Doing that and ultimately making the place a nicer community in which to live may be a key to attracting more people here.

Our nation’s economy is fast becoming a place in which many employees can work from home and home can be any community they seek. Sadly, few will choose Rodney, and they’ll only choose Natchez if those of us here today make it inviting and special tomorrow.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.