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There's actually a thread of truth in this rant. Kids graduate from high school and go to college. When they graduate, there are no jobs in their old small town, so they gravitate to cities where there is the opportunity to build a life. About 28% of adults in my state have a baccalaureate degree, but in my county it's only 9%. Some of the high school graduates make a good living in building trades, as loggers and such, but many are stuck in dead end minimum wage jobs. Many of them are drunks and druggies, but you find those wherever you go. Anyone with intelligence and initiative can do very well indeed. I rub elbows with multi-millionaires every day. They may be wearing bib overalls and muddy boots, but they know what they are doing.
My attorney here in town, says that the biggest cause of decline, is that the smart people leave, and the dumb people stay. Before you ask, we are both old with few options. It wasn't always this way.
Guess I should have explained the "Definition of Insanity" post above. I meant that if the OP was so miserable living in the country why does he stay there, and complain? That is crazy!
There's a difference between being critical of a location, and wanting to leave. I guess under your definition, anyone who states anything negative about the U.S., should move to another country. If that was the case, we wouldn't have many citizens left.
But there are vast areas of the country, where you cannot get cellular phone service. Where it can be 50 and even 100 miles between towns. Especially small towns can be 50 miles to a small city of any size. We are 50 miles from a city of any size, and 95 miles or so another direction. However we do have cell phone service, and cable and broadband internet.
And there are a lot of small town areas in the country, where people have decent well paying jobs, and earn a good living. Everything is not like the OP tries to make it sound so terrible.
Here McDonald's pays $14 an hour. House cleaners/house keepers get $15 to $20 an hour. Median home price is $325,000.
Our free and clear half a million dollar home located across the street from best part of the city on 5 acres has a terrible high property tax, at $2,100. The same home back where we raised our family (Silicon Valley) would be between $3 million and $4 million and we could not afford it. It is a 3,700 sq. ft. custom built 4 level (not 4 story) contemporary home with soaring window wall 25 foot ceiling in the living room area. And fantastic views of the Rocky Mountains 96 miles away. Yes we can see them clearly 96 miles away.
There are many areas like ours, where people prosper well in small towns, and all is not doom and gloom like the OP pictures small towns.
At least on CD forums like employment, real estate, retirement, I find the biggest difference between urban and rural posters, is the understanding of the relative value of money in different locations.
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