Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not every area of the South experienced this growth or improvement. Many areas did not. The large city areas did yes, but that barely touches most states. There's still plenty of poor areas once you drive outside of the large cities. Don't let the hype in the media fool you.
When did you move to Tampa? 1975? Most places change over 35 years. Hopefully, for the better. Sadly, that's not always the case.
Very true about the big metros in Southern states. There are plenty of small towns and rural areas that haven't changed much at all. This is the case with the towns my parents come from in SC and MS.
And in the future, people will think of our time and say, "Boy, they didn't know how lucky they had it!"
Ahhh.....the good ole days!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhthankgod
Very true about the big metros in Southern states. There are plenty of small towns and rural areas that haven't changed much at all. This is the case with the towns my parents come from in SC and MS.
Here in SC, you could throw a dart at a map and are almost guaranteed to hit one of those small towns. The parts of eastern NC I've been to are very much the same until you hit the coastal touristy places.
It's really like a time warp. Last year I met a man in Couchton, SC who told me he grew up with dirt floors and didn't know he was poor until JFK was on the radio telling his family that they were poor. I always thought having "dirt floors" was just an expression, but no it wasn't/isn't. He lived with dirt floors well into the 80s! As in the 1980's not the 1880's. Sad isn't it?
Here in SC, you could throw a dart at a map and are almost guaranteed to hit one of those small towns. The parts of eastern NC I've been to are very much the same until you hit the coastal touristy places.
It's really like a time warp. Last year I met a man in Couchton, SC who told me he grew up with dirt floors and didn't know he was poor until JFK was on the radio telling his family that they were poor. I always thought having "dirt floors" was just an expression, but no it wasn't/isn't. He lived with dirt floors well into the 80s! As in the 1980's not the 1880's. Sad isn't it?
I'm not surprised, as there is some serious poverty in many forgotten or time warped towns in many parts of the South. Here's a video of my dad's hometown: YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
It hasn't changed much from when I went there almost 20 years ago.
Stories like that have been playing out that same way all over NY for at least 30 years. Were I'm from some of those would have been "rich folks".
Also, I'm not sure how comfortable I am getting my news from Al Jazeera.
As a person that has been there, it isn't a matter of who is doing the segment. That is what the community looks like in many areas. Trust me, you won't find anything like in NY State. Show me a small town where according to the 2000 census that has around 50% of the families and around 55% of the people live below the poverty line in NY, with those conditions. 66% of those under 18 and 56% 65 and over live under the poverty line, with the county it is in being one of the poorest in the country. With that said, they aren't poor in spirit though.
The numbers look funny because down there you really can live on nothing and up here you HAVE to have four walls and heat. Take away that difference and the walking around money are about the same.
Take SR 26 down through like Georgetown you wanna see some po folks.
That said its been my considerable experience lifestyle choices are a HUGE factor here while in the South racism and a different(Feudal almost) culture are bigger factors. IOW's I agree with you in the South they are good people while here they are more likely to be wife beating alcoholics.
The houses are just a whole heckuva lot older in the North. They're newer in the South and not made as well, in general.
I am one of the ones who moved, and I never thought I would.
Today, I would not move back because:
a) my husband is from here
b) SNOW and depressing gray winters in Rochester
c) ridiculously high taxes in Rochester
Houses also, in 25 years, have barely risen in value up there. In 1987, I bought a 1928 Craftsman bungalow I loved for $75,000 and sold it seven years later for the same amount, and I was told I was lucky, since people in more-expensive homes weren't getting what they paid for their homes.
I just checked prices of homes in my old neighborhood -- they are listed for $79K to $87K. That's not a lot of appreciation in 24 years.
Even with the downturn, I made out better financially in the house department by moving here -- due to increased home value and not having to pay horrendous taxes.
HOWEVER, having said all that -- living in Rochester was wonderful. Good people, low crime (except certain areas near downtown), loads of things to having to do with the Finger Lakes, the river, Lake Ontario, the festivals, and proximity to Canada. I miss all of it. Here, we can go to the ocean, but it's 2 hours away. There are festivals, but not that many.
There are many times I think, "I just want to go get an Abbott's and walk on the pier." We have custard down here that is comparable, but no pier.
I believe a huge reason people stay put is: friends and relatives. You can't overestimate their importance in living a happy life.
Before I was 5 years old, my parents, both Rochester natives, looked for other places to live, so we lived in Virginia, Florida, and California. They came back to Rochester. It had everything they wanted.
In the neighborhood I grew up, I had cousins next door, two doors away, three doors away, a few streets away, and my grandparents four doors away. And so I grew up thinking that everyone lived in neighborhoods with all their relatives.
People stay in Rochester because they're happy to stay in Rochester. It's not easy or inexpensive to move.
Living close to the kids/grandkids has us staying put and traveling more. I can not picture myself leaving them after spending the majority of my adult life as a sahm. Now we live in a lovely paid for house, kids have all moved on but close and we have the most crazy Sundays when they all show up looking for some mom food, hanging out, enjoying each other. Then they all go home and we have the peace and quiet that we enjoy as much....not to get all philosophical here, but families are a continuum comprised of your children and their children and yourself and so on and to be an active part of that cycle up close and personal is a gift IMHO....and in this scary world we all live in, that gift gets more important to us everyday.......hope that's not too Zen for the audience....
The numbers look funny because down there you really can live on nothing and up here you HAVE to have four walls and heat. Take away that difference and the walking around money are about the same.
Take SR 26 down through like Georgetown you wanna see some po folks.
That said its been my considerable experience lifestyle choices are a HUGE factor here while in the South racism and a different(Feudal almost) culture are bigger factors. IOW's I agree with you in the South they are good people while here they are more likely to be wife beating alcoholics.
It doesn't matter where you are. You will find much the same things, good or bad and the weather down there can get very hot. I've been through that area and trust me, while it is poor, you really have to go down there to see how things are there. It would be like a village like say Sodus or Waterville having the same conditions.
It doesn't matter where you are. You will find much the same things, good or bad and the weather down there can get very hot. I've been through that area and trust me, while it is poor, you really have to go down there to see how things are there. It would be like a village like say Sodus or Waterville having the same conditions.
Yeah, we're not talking a bad neighborhood or a few bad streets. We're talking whole towns and in some places even the entire county is stuck in 1750 with only some minor electricity and plumbing. Other than that and their clothes, you'd never know it's 2011.
And there's a whole different level of poverty. One that NY has never seen. It's something NY NEVER ever wants to see!
Remember when Katrina hit New Orleans and all of those images of the poor neighborhoods flooded and the residents devastated? Many of the homes looked like a shack. That's normal in many areas of the South. There are places here where those shacks would actually be a major upgrade.
It's really sad. I'm not making light of the situation. I'm saying until you see it and drive through it, you have no idea. I've been all over NY and never saw anything even close to this. I've never seen this until I moved to South Carolina. I have now seen it in several Southern states. The poverty rate in many states and locations down here is unbelievable.
Last year, I met an old man who growing up lived with dirt floors. I always just that was an expression. He had dirt floors until the 1980s...yes 1980s! He didn't know he was poor until his family heard JFK tell them they were poor on the radio. This just blew my mind. He said that's the way life was and you just lived with what you had. He was quite an interesting guy to talk to.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
and we have the peace and quiet that we enjoy as much....not to get all philosophical here, but families are a continuum comprised of your children and their children and yourself and so on and to be an active part of that cycle up close and personal is a gift IMHO....and in this scary world we all live in, that gift gets more important to us everyday.......hope that's not too Zen for the audience....
