Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 05-27-2017, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Prepperland
18,867 posts, read 14,052,061 times
Reputation: 16573

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Biker53 View Post
Something that the statistics miss is the level of self sufficiency in rural areas. Average incomes may be less but lots of poor folks in the countryside have freezers full of meat from hunting or from animals they raise. The cupboards may be full with what they grew in the garden and canned. They don't need to spend as much [money] at the grocery store.

They may spend less [money] on heating their homes because they are burning wood instead. I buy mine cut split and delivered because I can afford it, but others buy full logs and then cut and split themselves. Some cut from their own wooded acreage. The guy I pay cash [money] to for my wood may or may not be declaring it, so incomes may not truly be as low as the govt. says. There is lots of barter going on in the countryside. Folks on average have more practical skills than urban folks as well. They don't need to hire out services (plumbing, electrical, carpentry etc) to the extent urban folks do. It is just a different way of life.

The farmer that hays some of my acreage is a win/win. He gets free hay for his beef cows and I don't have the field turning back to forest. Same story with the farmer that pastures sheep on my property.
FYI: Money does not make one prosperous. If that were true, a billionaire trapped on a deserted island would be prosperous. Money only functions where one NEEDS money and will trade labor and property for that money.

Where people have learned to live without needing money, prosperity is based on prodigious production, equitable trade, and enjoyment of surplus usable goods and services. And without the involvement of money, there is no way to ACCOUNT for the money value of that trade. All Socio-eCONomic pontifications and explanations are meaningless in societies that move away from "needing money."

 
Old 05-27-2017, 08:39 AM
 
79,906 posts, read 43,928,273 times
Reputation: 17189
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bureaucat View Post
It's amazing how defensive and angry some people can get just by the mentioning of comparative statistics. You can live where you want too. Nobody gives a damn what you do with your life. The point is that statistically residents of rural areas have fewer job opportunities, are less likely to go to college, and are more likely to develop cancer or heart disease than residents of any other types of communities. Use of opioids in such areas is exploding also. As far as politics is concerned, remember the "Clinton Archipelago" map that showed how comparatively few counties were carried by Hillary? The flip side is that small sliver of land accounts for nearly 2/3rds of GDP.

When Trump supporters complain about the economy tanking, these are the areas that they are most likely talking about. It isn't a new problem. It's been going on since time immorium. It didn't start with Barack Obama, but it is accelerating, and it doesn't help by not talking about it.
I've talked about how the politicians are only interested in the top few percent, that do generally live in cities, for years.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 08:44 AM
 
5,722 posts, read 5,776,812 times
Reputation: 4381
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bureaucat View Post
It's amazing how defensive and angry some people can get just by the mentioning of comparative statistics. You can live where you want too. Nobody gives a damn what you do with your life. The point is that statistically, residents of rural areas have fewer job opportunities, are less likely to go to college, and are more likely to develop cancer or heart disease than residents of any other types of communities. Use of opioids in such areas is exploding also. As far as politics is concerned, remember the "Clinton Archipelago" map that showed how comparatively few counties were carried by Hillary? The flip side is that small sliver of land accounts for nearly 2/3rds of GDP.

When Trump supporters complain about the economy tanking, these are the areas that they are most likely talking about. It isn't a new problem. It's been going on since time immemorial. It didn't start with Barack Obama, but it is accelerating, and it doesn't help by not talking about it.
Much of the rust belt isn't rural, that's what Trump focused on mostly. It's small to medium sized cities with infrastructure and in those cities the rural areas aren't far from the city centers so that's where the rural people work. The key is to revitalize small to medium sized cities.

The U.S. is being stupid we focus too much on 5 metros in the entire country. This benefits real estate agents, property holding companies, etc and so on more than anyone because the cost of living keeps skyrocketing to new heights in these cities.

Last edited by wanderlust76; 05-27-2017 at 09:02 AM..
 
Old 05-27-2017, 08:50 AM
 
Location: SE Asia
16,237 posts, read 5,831,561 times
Reputation: 9117
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bureaucat View Post
It's amazing how defensive and angry some people can get just by the mentioning of comparative statistics. You can live where you want too. Nobody gives a damn what you do with your life. The point is that statistically, residents of rural areas have fewer job opportunities, are less likely to go to college, and are more likely to develop cancer or heart disease than residents of any other types of communities. Use of opioids in such areas is exploding also. As far as politics is concerned, remember the "Clinton Archipelago" map that showed how comparatively few counties were carried by Hillary? The flip side is that small sliver of land accounts for nearly 2/3rds of GDP.

When Trump supporters complain about the economy tanking, these are the areas that they are most likely talking about. It isn't a new problem. It's been going on since time immemorial. It didn't start with Barack Obama, but it is accelerating, and it doesn't help by not talking about it.
I for one am not angry about statistics or even how some might use them in a thinly veiled manner to insult, as the OP did.
What I do know is that I am happy where I live, I will be happier still in 7 months when I retire and move abroad.
You are far more likely to be robbed, stabbed, shot or murdered in a city than in a rural community. You are also far more likely to be the victim of a home invasion.
That said Cities have some great benefits. Huge variety in food and cultural differences. I love to travel. Going to NYC is a taste of everything in the world. I love NYC. I just don't want to live there.
Cities have the best hospitals in the country. My local hospital I wouldn't take a dog I hated there for treatment.
Cities have a variety for shopping experiences. You want variety try Bangkok. I love BKK too. I wouldn't live there tho.
In short you may live longer in a city, but if it isn't your thing what's the point? I would soon become miserable if forced to live in a place where I have no space.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:03 AM
 
Location: NE Ohio
30,421 posts, read 20,210,364 times
Reputation: 8958
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnywhereElse View Post
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.

Top 10 US Cities with the highest HIV rate: Top 10 U.S. Cities With Highest Rates of HIV Infections Guess that isn't so rural. Highest risk of cancer: The 15 Counties Most At Risk For Cancer - Business Insider Queens is not rural, is it? Brooklyn, NY?
Once in a while I go to Google Street view and look at where we used to live in San Diego, and my old stomping grounds after I was discharged from the Navy. I think, "My God, I could never live in that kind of congestion again." Traffic, houses and apartment houses so close you could watch your neighbor in the bathroom. No place to park. No room for a garden. I don't even recognize much of it anymore (but my old apartment is still there on Hornblend St. in P.B.!

No thank you. I'll take the country, and our 11 acres, with maple trees, etc, a large garden and lots of green grass (we don't have "lawn" here ...we have grass). It's a pleasure to get out on the lawn tractor on a warm sunny day and mow. Even though the house is an old farm house and needs a lot of work, I couldn't go back to that city life.

I doubt those statistics. I think people probably are healthier and live longer being in the country. My mother (who lives in Western New York, about 100 miles from us) is going to be 97 in July.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:07 AM
 
Location: SE Asia
16,237 posts, read 5,831,561 times
Reputation: 9117
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy View Post
Once in a while I go to Google Street view and look at where we used to live in San Diego, and my old stomping grounds after I was discharged from the Navy. I think, "My God, I could never live in that kind of congestion again." Traffic, houses and apartment houses so close you could watch your neighbor in the bathroom. No place to park. No room for a garden. I don't even recognize much of it anymore (but my old apartment is still there on Hornblend St. in P.B.!

No thank you. I'll take the country, and our 11 acres, with maple trees, etc, a large garden and lots of green grass (we don't have "lawn" here ...we have grass). It's a pleasure to get out on the lawn tractor on a warm sunny day and mow. Even though the house is an old farm house and needs a lot of work, I couldn't go back to that city life.

I doubt those statistics. I think people probably are healthier and live longer being in the country. My mother (who lives in Western New York, about 100 miles from us) is going to be 97 in July.
It may also fail to take into account how many people retire from the city to the country.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:07 AM
 
Location: CA
1,716 posts, read 2,490,946 times
Reputation: 1870
I moved from Sacramento to Bishop CA.
My commute was 18 miles, one way.
Now my commute is 1/2 mile, one way.
My car insurance dropped by about $60 per month (2 vehicles).

Sure, there are pros and cons to both - but in my older age, I prefer the more relaxed and neighborly atmosphere of small town living.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:10 AM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,372 posts, read 9,273,394 times
Reputation: 7364
Education is still the answer to rural poverty. I have college grads in the family who live in very rural areas but make a good living on the internet and only go to the city once a week to their parent companies. Yet there are still Republicans who fight programs that help bring high speed internet to rural areas.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:15 AM
 
Location: Anderson, IN
6,855 posts, read 2,820,756 times
Reputation: 4187
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC View Post
Tell you what, you can take your big cities and... well, you know what I want to say. The area I live in may now have a whole bunch of jobs since it has gone from rural to metropolis, but I despise the place more each day. I can't wait until the day I can go to the "boonies." I have a little patch of ground in rural eastern North Dakota. The nearest town has less than two hundred residents. There has been negative growth since the nineteen forties. And I CAN'T WAIT to get there and the day that all I hear is the wind through the grass, a few birds singing, and a tractor out in the field a half mile away. If that's "very bad" give me very bad any day of the week.
Not to mention actually being able to see stars at night. That sounds beautiful, Chris. I don't necessarily miss owls talking to each other all night right outside my bedroom window or roosters talking to each other (LOUDLY) at 4 in the morning, but definitely remember and miss the other stuff.
 
Old 05-27-2017, 09:30 AM
 
79,906 posts, read 43,928,273 times
Reputation: 17189
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayland Woman View Post
Education is still the answer to rural poverty. I have college grads in the family who live in very rural areas but make a good living on the internet and only go to the city once a week to their parent companies. Yet there are still Republicans who fight programs that help bring high speed internet to rural areas.
W.Va. Broadband bill passes Senate Government Organization - West Virginia Press Association : West Virginia Press Association

While I support the idea I have a real problem with this since the Senate President (R) works for one of the cable companies that will benefit the most from this.

Frontier to pay $150M to West Virginia to settle lawsuit over broadband speed | FierceTelecom

They've already been sued for screwing over consumers. Now they will get subsidized. Reminds me of the last eight years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.



All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top