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The problem rural areas face is broadly speaking a lack of jobs. Going down the list.
1. Agriculture employs a fair amount of seasonal employees in rural areas, but in many areas these have long been migrant farmworkers, which means relatively little for the full-time population to do. Plus they pay crap.
2. Resource extraction jobs tend to be high paid, but there are relatively little of them left, and outside of certain areas of the country, they aren't even a factor.
3. Manufacturing is in an incredibly rapid decline in this country. Many smaller towns outside of major metros went into terminal decline when the large manufacturers located there either closed or automated heavily enough only a skeleton crew now works there. Many employers still like to locate the rare new factories in remote rural areas, particularly in the South, because they can have a captive labor force which they pay poverty-rate wages to. But this is no foundation towards a dynamic economy, and only happens in a handful of places regardless.
4. Service-sector jobs which compete on a national market are steadily concentrating in major metros. Think about things like banking, insurance, advertising, design, engineering, etc. Employers in these fields are looking for talented professionals, not just warm bodies, and know they'll have the best luck either being in a major city or a suburb within a major metropolitan area.
With these areas tapped, there's not much for rural/small town areas. If you're lucky, you have a tourist industry, although this is pretty low-wage work. Maybe you have a college, or a state prison, or some other major facility which just happens to be located in the area. If you're unlucky though, you just have the local economy. This can mean a wide range of income levels, as even poor rural areas will need doctors and lawyers. But practically speaking, the residents of the region stop contributing anything of meaning to the outside world, other than the outflow of taxes and revenue to chains like Wal-Mart.
The most extreme version of this can be seen in some dying towns on the High Plains. Literally the last jobs in some small counties are the Post Office and the public school system, meaning the only reason any settlement is remaining is government subsidies.
Still, I don't see any reason to really hurry the issue along. Somewhere like Eastern Kentucky is largely kept afloat by SSI checks, but what would making all the people who live on the dole move to bigger metros do? Few would find work, and their benefits would be stretched even tighter in higher-cost suburban/urban areas. In some ways the status quo - a slower decline - is preferable.
The problem rural areas face is broadly speaking a lack of jobs. Going down the list.
1. Agriculture employs a fair amount of seasonal employees in rural areas, but in many areas these have long been migrant farmworkers, which means relatively little for the full-time population to do. Plus they pay crap.
2. Resource extraction jobs tend to be high paid, but there are relatively little of them left, and outside of certain areas of the country, they aren't even a factor.
3. Manufacturing is in an incredibly rapid decline in this country. Many smaller towns outside of major metros went into terminal decline when the large manufacturers located there either closed or automated heavily enough only a skeleton crew now works there. Many employers still like to locate the rare new factories in remote rural areas, particularly in the South, because they can have a captive labor force which they pay poverty-rate wages to. But this is no foundation towards a dynamic economy, and only happens in a handful of places regardless.
4. Service-sector jobs which compete on a national market are steadily concentrating in major metros. Think about things like banking, insurance, advertising, design, engineering, etc. Employers in these fields are looking for talented professionals, not just warm bodies, and know they'll have the best luck either being in a major city or a suburb within a major metropolitan area.
With these areas tapped, there's not much for rural/small town areas. If you're lucky, you have a tourist industry, although this is pretty low-wage work. Maybe you have a college, or a state prison, or some other major facility which just happens to be located in the area. If you're unlucky though, you just have the local economy. This can mean a wide range of income levels, as even poor rural areas will need doctors and lawyers. But practically speaking, the residents of the region stop contributing anything of meaning to the outside world, other than the outflow of taxes and revenue to chains like Wal-Mart.
The most extreme version of this can be seen in some dying towns on the High Plains. Literally the last jobs in some small counties are the Post Office and the public school system, meaning the only reason any settlement is remaining is government subsidies.
Still, I don't see any reason to really hurry the issue along. Somewhere like Eastern Kentucky is largely kept afloat by SSI checks, but what would making all the people who live on the dole move to bigger metros do? Few would find work, and their benefits would be stretched even tighter in higher-cost suburban/urban areas. In some ways the status quo - a slower decline - is preferable.
Excellent post which pretty much outlines the problems that rural areas/small town face and the reasons for it.
I remember rural or rather small-town upstate NY had some industrial base. Is that accurate or is it collapsing? Remember something about a big plant in Tioga County. Stuff in Broome County I guess wouldn't count as rural.
Excellent post which pretty much outlines the problems that rural areas/small town face and the reasons for it.
there is no fixing those problems. The economy of rural areas and small towns will continue to decline until they are government subsidized or the economy collapses.
I doubt that when poor people come to the cities or suburbs, that they will become more poor. Even anything they will get better access to social services, public transportation, and healthcare and free food. They will have more help to get out of poverty. They will also have close access to large community colleges.
there is no fixing those problems. The economy of rural areas and small towns will continue to decline until they are government subsidized or the economy collapses.
I see the exact opposite happening. When the economy collapses the cities will be the worst places to be. The internet is the great equalizer between the cities and small towns. I do not need shopping malls in urban locations, I can order anything I want on Amazon, B&H, JR, Iherb, Vitacost etc.,etc. With my computer I can trade the markets in New York, London or Hong Kong from any small town in America. Young people in small towns can take online classes from many universities, there is no need to be physically present in overcrowded classes.
I am looking forward to moving out of my big city to an uncrowded location, maybe to a lakefront home in Northern Wisconsin or somewhere in the mountains of western North Carolina.
One doesn't need to do much to discourage rural living. Rural communities have been in serious decline for decades. The people left in rural areas are generally all subsidized by the government already. There is no reason to think they wouldn't be in the same boat if they were in a more urban area.
I remember rural or rather small-town upstate NY had some industrial base. Is that accurate or is it collapsing? Remember something about a big plant in Tioga County. Stuff in Broome County I guess wouldn't count as rural.
It's pretty well all gone. When I was growing up in rural Cattaraugus County, NY, just about every little town had at least one small factory that employed 50-100 people.
My hometown, Gowanda, had many more jobs than the local residents could fill, so people commuted to it from all over northern Cattaraugus, north Chautauqua, and southern Erie County. It had a large tannery and an adjacent glue factory which employed hundreds of workers. Then on one hill, there was the residential hospital for the mentally ill, and another hill to the southwest was a residential hospital for the mentally retarded. These facilities probably employed a thousand people or more each. Then there were several smaller factories as well as all kinds of retail and commercial businesses plus a hospital.
All that's left is the state hospital facility which has been turned into 2 prisons, and most of the corrections officers and other staff live closer to Buffalo, so there's only limited benefit to the area from them.
I see the exact opposite happening. When the economy collapses the cities will be the worst places to be. The internet is the great equalizer between the cities and small towns. I do not need shopping malls in urban locations, I can order anything I want on Amazon, B&H, JR, Iherb, Vitacost etc.,etc.
LOL. I've only visited B&H and JR (did you mean the Downtown Manhattan J&R World?, a four story electronics store) in their "real stores". JR World just went out of business, probably a victim of the internet. Sad to see it go.
there is no fixing those problems. The economy of rural areas and small towns will continue to decline until they are government subsidized or the economy collapses.
I doubt that when poor people come to the cities or suburbs, that they will become more poor. Even anything they will get better access to social services, public transportation, and healthcare and free food. They will have more help to get out of poverty. They will also have close access to large community colleges.
What kind of jobs are these people going to find in the cities and suburbs? The same low skill, low pay kind of jobs they had in their small town. The difference is that instead of being able to rent a crappy apartment for $400/month, they have to shell out twice that for a worse place in a more dangerous area.
You seem to think that the rural poor are poor simply because of lack of opportunity. I disagree. Having access to education and plentiful jobs hasn't eradicated the urban poor, has it? Why do you think the rural poor, forced to move to places they don't want to be, would fare better? Multigenerational poverty, whether in cities or rural areas, generally comes from a combination of attitudes, family dysfunction, and substance abuse/physical/psychological issues that make it virtually impossible for children to escape the circumstances of their births because even when they have ample opportunities, they simply aren't equipped to take advantage of them.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LivingDeadGirl
No offense but when I read this all I could think about is loss of freedom and the threat of governments controlling populations since they are congregated in population areas. It is absurd and borders on communism. ..!
Hey babe you are living it TODAY in the good ole USA. Political posturing is focusing on density / ez votes for advancing the 'agenda' .
Internet coverage is next to impossible to get in many rural places and in some it is impossible. Yes, right here in USA!!! Coverage has always been better where I have worked overseas (not all were developed nations)
Today (and for the last few months) Healthcare $$ is much higher for rural folks, some states the new ACA is 4x more if you are in a rural location.
Fuel costs,
Land taxes ...
Sister there ain't no START about it... been racing forward as a USA social agenda for 6 yrs now.
Should we start discouraging rural living?
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