What's So Bad About Mississippi? (Tupelo, Decatur: low crime, living in, company)

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

Not true. Interstates are Federally funded. Meaning that as long as Federal design guidelines and operating parameters are met (as overseen by the Federal Highway Administration - FHWA), the feds will pick up a large chunk of the tab for construction and repair projects. But the roads are owned, maintained, and patrolled by the respective states they go through, and they have to pay for a percentage of the cost of construction and repairs (I believe the states pay 20% and feds pay 80%). States design the roads, pick the contractors, oversee construction, and handle inspections and maintenance. There are vast differences in the competencies and priorities of the various Departments of Transportation (DOTs).

To specifically address the roads around Jackson...
I lived in Jackson a few decades ago and while there I worked as an intern at the local FHWA office. In MDOT's defense, the area around Jackson (and along I-20 between Vicksburg and Meridian) has the most cr@ppy soil you could ever choose to build roads and houses on. It's an expansive clay known locally as "Yazoo Clay" (it has other local names, but they aren't fit to type here). When exposed to water it swells and when it dries it shrinks. It swells and shrinks A LOT, and it carries whatever is sitting on it along for the ride. Almost all new houses in the area are built on a heavily reinforced and post-tensioned concrete foundations, and cracks and movement still occurs.

The only ways to get around it as far as roads are concerned would be to build a continuous bridge (highway bridges are insanely expensive), dig out the clay and replace with non-expansive soil (good fill soil is rare in the area and is therefore very expensive), or to try and mix other substances with the clay to make it more stable (usually this is powdered Portland cement). Because the only true "fixes" are too expensive, the state does the best it can with the money it has. A new road that may stay in good shape for 25 years in Kansas may last only 5-10 years in Mississippi.

This article addresses house foundation problems, but roads have the same problems: The Cosmic Corner: Designing and Repairing Slab Foundations built on Yazoo Clay

Very insightful post, was not aware the soil had so much to do with it.

I actually reread my post some time after I posted it and noticed I put "owned" and I tried to edit it to put funded, but the editing feature was gone since its time had elapsed.

[TN fan]

Mississippi is slowly going down the drain.I currently live in Port Gibson.(well right outside town)It is one of the worst towns in america.The cops have never seen an academy,theres 1 firefighter/fire chief for the city.When he needs help he calls my dad.The county has eight sheriffs deputies,and one fire station with about ten volunteers who make more per year than my dad.The mayor has no education half the city/county administraters are taking money and they look the other way,and most of them hardly have a highschool education.The towns population is 87% black,to me that has nothing to do with it.Im white,my family is white.We're struggling.We filed for state assistance.Took two weeks to hear back.My mom was told "oh youre that white lady,i can't help you,you got to call the main office".The crime is horrible,the drugs and hookers are horrible.Yet you still see people from cali who come to see Port Gibsons History or whats left.They are running this town to hell.

[TN fan]

Mississippi is full of good ol' boy politicians who would rather shutdown the one abortion clinic in the state just to say they can.You can't stop a guy from jumpin off a bridge if he wants to die.In my opinion Mississippi wants to break off from the union and bring back slavery,because clearly they haven't left the 1800's.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by TN fan

Mississippi is slowly going down the drain.I currently live in Port Gibson.(well right outside town)It is one of the worst towns in america.The cops have never seen an academy,theres 1 firefighter/fire chief for the city.When he needs help he calls my dad.The county has eight sheriffs deputies,and one fire station with about ten volunteers who make more per year than my dad.The mayor has no education half the city/county administraters are taking money and they look the other way,and most of them hardly have a highschool education.The towns population is 87% black,to me that has nothing to do with it.Im white,my family is white.We're struggling.We filed for state assistance.Took two weeks to hear back.My mom was told "oh youre that white lady,i can't help you,you got to call the main office".The crime is horrible,the drugs and hookers are horrible.Yet you still see people from cali who come to see Port Gibsons History or whats left.They are running this town to hell.

Yeah, Port Gibson got left behind.
Nothing to do but move on. Towns die all the time. Hoping that Port Gibson will recover is futile; maybe reading the Greenville thread will help you understand why. But in the end the reasons don't matter. Port Gibson will exist as long as there are addresses to send public assistance checks to.

Fortunately, there are areas doing a lot better than Port Gibson. You should go find one. You ain't a tree, and while wild flowers don't care where they grow, I will point out that there are no wild flowers on the moon.
Go where you can grow.

[Desert kid]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Yeah, Port Gibson got left behind.
Nothing to do but move on. Towns die all the time. Hoping that Port Gibson will recover is futile; maybe reading the Greenville thread will help you understand why. But in the end the reasons don't matter. Port Gibson will exist as long as there are addresses to send public assistance checks to.

Fortunately, there are areas doing a lot better than Port Gibson. You should go find one. You ain't a tree, and while wild flowers don't care where they grow, I will point out that there are no wild flowers on the moon.
Go where you can grow.

I agree with this, I've been to Port Gibson an in a lot of ways, there is not much there, even nearby Natchez offers much more.

[Zara Ray]

What's So Bad About Mississippi?

Everything.

[Desert kid]

Originally Posted by Zara Ray

Everything.

Have you ever been there?

[sammyreynolds1977]

Don't feed trolls.

[KaoCT]

I'll tell you what's cool about Mississippi. I live in the country so I can usually see tons of stars at night but last night I was able to see the Milky Way for the first time ever!

[TN fan]

I'd love to get out listner 2307 just one small problem im seventeen.Still in school.