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What I find funny is that I'm originally form a small town/rural area and practically everyone there was forced to commute to the nearest major metro to earn their keep. It's one thing to say such places are superior to the city, when it is the city that is basically supporting the population of the rural area.
I'm now living in a dense urban area and have never had a problem with crime. Due to gentrification the low lives are being priced out further and further to the suburbs and rural parts.
Lucky us who live in cities and love them; A new analysis in the WSJ shows that the folks who live in rural America are by far worse off in general than the rest of us:
"...a Wall Street Journal analysis shows that by many key measures of socioeconomic well-being, those charts have flipped. In terms of poverty, college attainment, teenage births, divorce, death rates from heart disease and cancer, reliance on federal disability insurance and male labor-force participation, rural counties now rank the worst among the four major U.S. population groupings (the others are big cities, suburbs and medium or small metro areas)."
Much has been written already about the loss of population and the "diseases of despair" that hit these areas, like alcoholism, drug use, and suicide, but it's still a bit shocking to me to see how badly off rural areas are. Not only are factories shuttering, but the lack of public transportation, hospitals, child care, and social services compound the ills of daily living.
We whine about all that's wrong with New York, or Chicago, or San Francisco, or any number of other cities. But we should be happy to be there rather than out in the boonies. It's long past time that the U.S. realize that the real face of poverty and social dysfunction isn't just some L.A. gangbanger or thug from East New York or the West side of Chicago.
The question is what will the nation do about it? And should it do anything at all? And if something is to be done, will Trump and the Republicans--whom many if not most of these people voted for--be the ones to do it?
Congratulations for living in the nice part of cities.
When I lived in Chicago there were many nice areas while the poor and brown lived in violent hell-holes and still do.
So kudos to you successful, continuing economic (and racial) segregation that allows you to enjoy such a utopian lifestyle since you're affluent and isolated from the poor.
For some years I've had this sarcastic idea of a trade show I'd like to put together - featuring opportunities for making money off of poverty. I call it "Celebrating Poverty!".
e.g. there would be tables and vendors with opportunities to make money in slumlording, pawnbroking, payday lending, liquor stores, clunker dealers, corner markets, etc.;
What I find funny is that I'm originally form a small town/rural area and practically everyone there was forced to commute to the nearest major metro to earn their keep. It's one thing to say such places are superior to the city, when it is the city that is basically supporting the population of the rural area.
I'm now living in a dense urban area and have never had a problem with crime. Due to gentrification the low lives are being priced out further and further to the suburbs and rural parts.
Happy about this are you? These low lifes you're referring to are probably middle class people. The U.S. has too much wasted land and the cost of living is outrageous in many cities. The population needs to be spread out more anyway.
Happy about this are you? These low lifes you're referring to are probably middle class people. The U.S. has too much wasted land and the cost of living is outrageous in many cities. The population needs to be spread out more anyway.
It's more or less minorities and persons with low IQs who are not capable of surviving in a global high tech economy. The low lives are those who have to rape and rob people to survive.
All of you describing your life in the country is like hearing a horror story for me.
I bet you are all happy. That is great!!!! I'm happy you enjoy your lifestyle. I know you are happy for me too and wouldn't ever make a personal attack because I choose to live differently. Nah -- especially you people in the country -- you all are so warm and friendly and neighborly.
I live in the country and drive into the city to work, but work remote form home most days, if not on the road here and there. I love the country, outside my back gate is a wildfowl hunting area and a large lake, we grow veges, fruits and nuts, trees all around and there are often times that the only thing to be heard are the birds and animals and the wind in the trees, I find it is good for the soul. I know it is not for everyone and I have lived in the city many years, I know the upsides to both areas, and to each their own. But do keep this in mind, cities depend upon those in the country, without their hard work the cities would die, and just because people live in the country does not mean that they do not enjoy the same tech toys and perks that city dwellers do.
I lived exclusively in rural communities. We have also been debt-free since 2000 which I suspect few that "flocked to the cities" can say.
Statistics are tricky and often say what the person making the study want them to say, much like polls.
Trump is already working on making rural areas better by booting the illegal aliens back where they belong. Much of the lack of "opportunity and prosperity in rural areas is due to illegal aliens flocking in, driving up poverty, etc. and outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. Also, agriculture has taken a big hit, since we bring so much from out of country without a tariff making it hard to impossible for our farmers to compete.
You can have the cities. The cities have a very mobile population making it hard to base statistics on anything of value.
It's much cheaper to live in cities in my view - with the caveat that you're OK with living in a small space.
Well, maybe SF and NYC would be too expensive regardless, but other cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Tampa, Charleston, Oklahoma City, etc?
Easily done.
Then, you don't need a car, because you can easily bike/walk/bus to places. Cars are very expensive, and you have to spend $ going anywhere because you have to drive everywhere.
Food is cheaper because it's more availability, versus a rural town where all they have is one liquor store for the next 30 miles, allowing them to charge what they want.
Today, I walked from work right to a festival. Then we walked back to our place to change for the opera, which we also walked to. Then we walked back home to feed/take out our dog, and now we're about to head out for drinks at one of the many local lounges and clubs nearby. After that, we'll stagger a few blocks home (no need to even order an Uber), and collapse in our cozy bed.
Wouldn't trade city life for rural life at all. Though I can see the appeal in rural life for other reasons.
Last edited by ohhwanderlust; 05-26-2017 at 11:44 PM..
But at least they aren't shooting each other, like in the urban ghettos.
Oh, yes they are. Poverty, drugs and guns. They all go hand in hand. Only the locations differ.
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