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Upstate NY is stuffed with small towns. (Which in itself may be a problem as each town has it’s own government and taxes). But if you are looking for small town living, it’s available and thriving in Upstate NY. I would say that you have the benefits of small town living, and if it’s important to you, the small towns are never more than 30-40 minutes from a large city center. If you can put up with the higher than normal tax burden, and the higher than normal bureaucracy of NYS, Bedford Falls from “It’s a Wonderful Life” is alive in well in Upstate NY.
My former little town saw the enclosed mall, that everyone was gaga over a couple of decades ago, go belly up and the locals discovered that they have a downtown that survived and is worthy of investment. There are renovations and rehabbed buildings and sidewalk cafes and fresh paint and some new trees...looks good.
I realize that, but I wonder how we can bring jobs that aren't factory related to small town America. I feel like the next generation of "hipsters" if you will might fantasize about living in a small town, because of stories their grandparents told them. Could happen.
We can’t and we shouldn’t. There’s no reason for most small towns, far removed from major metros, to exist. Sometimes people just need to come out of the wilderness. Historically, people have gone where the work is. I don’t know why now, all of a sudden there is an expectation that we should bring work to the people.
Upstate NY is stuffed with small towns. (Which in itself may be a problem as each town has it’s own government and taxes). But if you are looking for small town living, it’s available and thriving in Upstate NY. I would say that you have the benefits of small town living, and if it’s important to you, the small towns are never more than 30-40 minutes from a large city center. If you can put up with the higher than normal tax burden, and the higher than normal bureaucracy of NYS, Bedford Falls from “It’s a Wonderful Life” is alive in well in Upstate NY.
I think being close to a major city is important for small towns. Frederick MD is an example of this.
We can’t and we shouldn’t. There’s no reason for most small towns, far removed from major metros, to exist. Sometimes people just need to come out of the wilderness. Historically, people have gone where the work is. I don’t know why now, all of a sudden there is an expectation that we should bring work to the people.
Living preferences do exist you know. Not everyone wants to live in a major population center.
Living preferences do exist you know. Not everyone wants to live in a major population center.
It is the height of entitlement to want to live away from population centers but want jobs to come to you. People need to either live off the land, or move to the jobs.
It is the height of entitlement to want to live away from population centers but want jobs to come to you. People need to either live off the land, or move to the jobs.
There's no reason small towns can't have industry. Historically they always have had strong local economies or they died. With tech industry so prevalent now there is no reason, if the demand for that lifestyle increases, for tech companies to set up shop in small, traditional towns and villages. There is nothing entitled about wishing for something like this to happen;.
There's no reason small towns can't have industry. Historically they always have had strong local economies or they died. With tech industry so prevalent now there is no reason, if the demand for that lifestyle increases, for tech companies to set up shop in small, traditional towns and villages. There is nothing entitled about wishing for something like this to happen;.
It's not comparable in any way.
First, industry generally set up in given small towns for a reason. Maybe it was close to needed raw materials (e.g., paper mill). Maybe it was at a key point on the transportation network (riverfront location, railroad stop, or - in the modern era - highway exit). Sometimes over the last 50 years manufacturing plants have been located in very poor rural areas because the lack of local jobs meant the employers could pay crap and not have to worry.
None of this works for high-level service jobs like tech. The jobs can be located anywhere, it's true. But why locate them in a small town? It's not like a mill, where all you need is warm bodies who can follow direction. You're looking for people who have certain natural aptitudes and have taken on years of education. They don't just live in rural areas. You will get less qualified applicants if you locate in a non-metro area than a major metropolitan area. Even if some of these metro-dwellers would be okay with taking a job in a remote small town, there's the lack of competition to consider. Often mills were set up in remote areas in part because the location meant turnover would be low. But if people have the mindset they're only going to work for a given company for a few years and then move on, they're not going to move out to a small town and risk being chained to that company forever, because nothing else in the area fits their qualifications.
In addition, we have to consider how corporate consolidation has hurt small towns. In many cases, the main employers in these smaller towns grew up organically with local entrepreneurs. These people don't tend to stay in their hometowns now - they move to big cities - meaning there isn't a homegrown pipeline for job creation. Furthermore, the U.S. government has been more and more lax with enforcing antitrust law. As a result, competition across many industries has dropped. Generally whenever consolidations happen, the new larger company ultimately moves its headquarters to the larger city. Thus for many professional fields (accounting, engineering, architecture, etc) there's just been a steady flow of jobs away from rural areas into the metropolitan ones.
Upstate NY is stuffed with small towns. (Which in itself may be a problem as each town has it’s own government and taxes). But if you are looking for small town living, it’s available and thriving in Upstate NY. I would say that you have the benefits of small town living, and if it’s important to you, the small towns are never more than 30-40 minutes from a large city center. If you can put up with the higher than normal tax burden, and the higher than normal bureaucracy of NYS, Bedford Falls from “It’s a Wonderful Life” is alive in well in Upstate NY.
^This and what some people may not know about some of the smaller towns(villages) is that some have low utility costs due to getting their power through the New York Power Authority. This is a map of places in the state that are a part of NYPA: https://goo.gl/images/jfnKGt
Some places like Seneca Falls(which is what Bedford Falls is based off of; ITT/Gould Pumps is a big employee), Ticonderoga(International Paper is there) and a few others dissolved their villages, but you still have the small town walkability in those location. Dissolution helps to lower taxes by getting rid of a layer of government/services to pay for.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-19-2019 at 08:57 AM..
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