The rural exodus accelerates

[empires228]

Originally Posted by pvlman

I have to question how many people in rural Kansas even the western half of Kansas live more than 200 miles away from a regional health center. Salina Great Bend Hays Dodge city Garden City, not sure what they have in Sherman & Thomas counties. Facilities across the border in Nebraska. All places that can save your life & stabilize you for travel to KC Denver KC Wichita if needed. Of course one has to survive the trip to the first facility first. An expectation should be created. An expectation that every capable adult take both basic, and advanced first aid training,along with maintaining first aid kits beyond a 10 buck Walmart first aid kit. With over 6 billion dollars of various Federal agricultural aid sent to Kansas first district, the funds should be here for local governments to help make such expectations realized. Sorry if I come across harsh, I just read an editorial in a local weekly those shows that those in my community just don't get it yet

Sadly I wouldn't even call Dodge City a "regional hospital" Regional Hospitals out in Western Half of the state would be in Hays (large new addition being built), Garden City (new addition just opened), Liberal (also had lots of work done), and Salina. I know Garden City and Hays have Helicopter pads I don't know about the others.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9651/stcatherine.png St Catherine in GC is a very different complex in 2012 then it was in 1991.

For fun see if you can find the original building and it's later addition pictured in this 50's postcard in the aerial view . http://imageshack.us/f/51/t2ec16nhjf0e9nmfqjdebqb.jpg/

[itsMeFred]

Salina is in western Kansas??
Are you holding your map right-side up?

Garden City--all right...but Hayes? Dodge City? They might be in the western half, but not by much...

[jason87x]

To explain this, put this in perspective of a young person 16-21 or so in a small town somewhere out in KS (or any other state for that matter). Relatively little to do but just drink compared to your buddies in the city, small pool of mates to have as bf/gf/hubby/wife. Few jobs available unless there's a factory nearby or someone leaves their post in a local shop. None of those jobs seem interesting, so you want to go to college, such as KU. Wichita or Topeka might seem dangerous. Keep in mind also even rural areas have internet access, so young people out there are more aware of the world these days.

All of these put together, and it's no wonder that most youngish people are moving to either 1. Lawrence, 2. JoCo, 3. west WyCo, 4. KC's urban core, 5. something cliche like Los Angeles.

Old people that have lived there their whole lives have no good reason to leave, unless they want to be with their younger family members in one of the above. That is unless they want to also live in a retirement community (some of the newer ones here in joco look pretty nice, too) when they aren't as able to take care of a farm, or just don't want to anymore. The big corporates therefore more than happy to buy the old person farms while the old people cash out on all that land and live in relative luxury.

I think suburbs can be a good compromise and best of both worlds, close to urban things and yet close to interesting nature. No wonder people are moving to them. JoCo I think does a better job of suburbia than many other places, tbh, the only thing I find lacking is nightlife, but KC's urban core is next door, and Lawrence not very far away.

[itsMeFred]

Holy cow... I don't think I've ever seen so many stereotypes in one post.

[AnywhereElse]

Originally Posted by jason87x

To explain this, put this in perspective of a young person 16-21 or so in a small town somewhere out in KS (or any other state for that matter). Relatively little to do but just drink compared to your buddies in the city, small pool of mates to have as bf/gf/hubby/wife. Few jobs available unless there's a factory nearby or someone leaves their post in a local shop. None of those jobs seem interesting, so you want to go to college, such as KU. Wichita or Topeka might seem dangerous. Keep in mind also even rural areas have internet access, so young people out there are more aware of the world these days.

All of these put together, and it's no wonder that most youngish people are moving to either 1. Lawrence, 2. JoCo, 3. west WyCo, 4. KC's urban core, 5. something cliche like Los Angeles.

Old people that have lived there their whole lives have no good reason to leave, unless they want to be with their younger family members in one of the above. That is unless they want to also live in a retirement community (some of the newer ones here in joco look pretty nice, too) when they aren't as able to take care of a farm, or just don't want to anymore. The big corporates therefore more than happy to buy the old person farms while the old people cash out on all that land and live in relative luxury.

I think suburbs can be a good compromise and best of both worlds, close to urban things and yet close to interesting nature. No wonder people are moving to them. JoCo I think does a better job of suburbia than many other places, tbh, the only thing I find lacking is nightlife, but KC's urban core is next door, and Lawrence not very far away.

That is not the reality of small town Kansas. A lot of those that leave do return because I have seen that over the years living in a few different towns here. In the rural areas, it is just as true. I get really tired of drinking being blamed on nothing else to do because that has nothing to do with why people drink. I grew in the country and we did not drink, no one I knew drank for a lack of anything better to do.

You are young and you will learn the realities. There is something about "home" that will try to draw you back. Have heard so many say either "I always planned to come back.", "I am glad to be back." Farming is pretty big down here in the SE. So many people when they decide to raise children long for the values that they grew up to be passed onto their children.

When it comes to jobs, when the big companies fail, you lose everything. Talked to two people lately whose adult children have lost jobs in Olathe and cannot find anything else there. Bet they end up going back home to the security that it provides. When the big cities layoff, the reality sets in.

[sambukhari]

That is already happening for the most part. The consolidation of farms and ranches so complete that you now but smaller players in some of the counties are more dependent agriculture. Also, take the out-migration of younger residents away potential future capital growth potential....