Boomtown is a small town that grows quickly as a result of sudden increase in local economic activity. It’s normally the result of the discovery of some natural resources or manmade activities in that town. This caused people to rush and settle there and developed the industry and business locally. They are all over the world, not only in America, but also in Australia and many other countries. Some of the small towns grew overnight, and through generations of development, transformed into well-known cities nowadays.
During the Gold Rush, millions of people desired to travel to the Wild West and to discover gold in the ground. During that time, many towns started to boom, making California a desirable immigration destination with native Californian, Spanish explorers, Yankees and immigrants from all over the world. San Francisco was one of the typical boom towns during that time, which is now a beautiful modern city. Modern day examples that rely on resource generation include Fort McMurray in Canada, because the discovery of oilsands requires a lot of workers, and also Johannesburg in South Africa, based on the gold and diamond trade.
Boomtown attracts people with dreams, full of adventurous spirits, and even foreigners to come and settle down. In my opinion, I think Boomtown is good. Firstly, it could attract more laborers, which is necessary for advancing the local economy and industry. Secondly, since the town is booming, the local people can benefit from the development and have access to improved transportation, education, healthcare, etc. Last but not least, it can stimulate people’s entrepreneurship and make the town more successful. In some way, boomtown represents the American dream and spirit.
However, many boomtowns are typically heavily dependent on resources or single business activity. When the resources are exhausted and depleted, the boomtown can go from boom to bust in a short period of time. Because of this, people would decide to leave and the town would eventually turn into an abandoned ghost town. Therefore, sustainable development is important. We should not be short sighted of what we have, but rather maintain an entrepreneurial spirit and try to make the boomtown more resourceful and sustainable.
In conclusion, a boomtown has its advantages, such as it can develop a region’s economy, and also has its disadvantages, when it is depending too much on resources and may turn into ghost towns. My hometown Shanghai was a fishing village two hundred years ago, and started to boom and thrive in the late 1990s. After thirty years of development, it is now the most prosperous city with the highest GDP in China, filled with high-rise buildings and migrated people. It can be considered as a boom town in China, but the success does not come overnight, instead it benefits from continuous contribution from the local people.
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