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.
A community that has homes you can purchase for $40,000 is a community where wages are low.
For retirees like me with a small pension these communities are great.
For young adults [with stars in their eyes] wanting jobs that pay $100k a year, those kinds of jobs simply do not exist here. They seek high paying jobs in the cities where homes are more commonly priced over $300k.
I am happy to live on a 150 acre farm where my property taxes are ~$800/year. For me, this is ideal.
In my travels, I have seen that areas with high-paying jobs, will also have expensive homes and high taxes. And the opposite is also true. Areas with no high-paying jobs will have low priced homes and lower taxes.
The Cost-Of-Living [home prices and taxes] tracks with the wages.
With the average Social Security pension around $16 k, that should qualify to buy a home in your area. Perhaps that's one reason rural areas are older!
With the average Social Security pension around $16 k, that should qualify to buy a home in your area. Perhaps that's one reason rural areas are older!
Well this is the oldest state [oldest average age] with the highest percentage of retirees.
There is no easy answer to the rural dilemma of a declining local economy.
One good idea is to develop alternative energy in those places. I know of a family living in rural Kansas who has a 23 year old son trained as a windmill technician and he thoroughly enjoys his $60K per year job that includes a new F-150 that he uses to go throughout the county maintaining wind machinery.
This is happening in some small towns in Colorado. Alternative energy development by small non-profits, and also by independent contractors.
Having worked as a Forester in the west for 40 years I have spent a lot of time in rural areas.
The successful rural areas have become metropolitan areas. The list of communities in my 20's that I would have loved living in have in many cases become urban areas.
In fact, I lost track of one small community in Utah until 40 years later I was flying into Tucson and looked out the airplane window...and wondered "what are we flying over??". From a population of 7,000 to just under 200,000.
My list of great little towns has become a list of metro areas.
So by definition, rural areas will always have less capital and opportunities until they don't, then they become successful towns and cities.
A better question is how we improve the quality of life in rural areas, without them becoming a unliveable mess that our metro areas have become.
It isn't about money, but quality of life and providing opportunities for residents.
Having worked as a Forester in the west for 40 years I have spent a lot of time in rural areas.
The successful rural areas have become metropolitan areas. The list of communities in my 20's that I would have loved living in have in many cases become urban areas.
In fact, I lost track of one small community in Utah until 40 years later I was flying into Tucson and looked out the airplane window...and wondered "what are we flying over??". From a population of 7,000 to just under 200,000.
My list of great little towns has become a list of metro areas.
So by definition, rural areas will always have less capital and opportunities until they don't, then they become successful towns and cities.
A better question is how we improve the quality of life in rural areas, without them becoming a unliveable mess that our metro areas have become.
It isn't about money, but quality of life and providing opportunities for residents.
If you, as well as others, improve the quality of life to such a degree that rural America will have more paved roads, hard wired Internet access, along with good paying jobs, etc.,etc. the old saying will hold true;
build it and they will come, and rest assure, soon after they arrive, street lights will be on order.
If you, as well as others, improve the quality of life to such a degree that rural America will have more paved roads, hard wired Internet access, along with good paying jobs, etc.,etc. the old saying will hold true;
build it and they will come, and rest assure, soon after they arrive, street lights will be on order.
You don't want good paying jobs? Healthcare? Poverty is the price you're willing to pay to avoid better internet?
A better question is how we improve the quality of life in rural areas,
without them becoming a unliveable mess that our metro areas have become.
Just as with those large metro areas... it's about striking the right balance.
Quote:
It isn't about money, but quality of life and providing opportunities for residents.
Semantics aside... "quality of life" and "opportunities" are the definition of having (enough) money.
Which brings it all back to striking the right balance -- between what income is possible --
in that town or valley or wide spot in the road... vs the number of people the income has to support.
A Million $$ will go a whole lot farther divided by TEN than it will when divided by FIFTY.
You don't want good paying jobs? Healthcare? Poverty is the price you're willing to pay to avoid better internet?
Im retired living on fixed income, on a very large tract of land in a town just under 900, 1/2 mile gravel driveway to 1/2 mile dirt road till we hit pavement, 8 miles to town; shopping, medical center, PO, etc.
Two weeks ago this Friday we were snowed in for a week, we had another storm this past Friday and have been in since, I brougt my Front-end loader up the mountain incase we have to bail. We don't move until it melts, which is ok by me.
If one needs a more variety of employment along with city excitement, get on the highway and head to the city of 100K thirty miles away, just as I did when I was chasing the buck.
Im a transplant to this geography, loving this rural lifestyle, living in the jewel of the Blue Ridge Mountains, echoing the feeling of locals that have been living here for generations.
The last lace on earth where rural Americans should look for guidance is the New York Times.
No, they should turn to Trump instead, who tells then lies that they want to hear, rather than hard realities that they don't want to hear.
The NYT is telling the hard truth. There's no easy fix. But, actually, progressive ideas may be of greater benefit to rural America. The opioid crisis has been driven by our broken healthcare system. Insurance companies would rather pay for drugs than more expensive by necessary healthcare such as physical therapy, especially for managing chronic pain. That's not the only reason for the crisis, but it's definitely a contributing factor. Universal healthcare is the ONLY sensible system.
The jobs have dried up because of a changing world. You can't turn back time. Automation kills jobs. It results in more profits for those at the top, and fewer for everyone else. Paying people a decent wage becomes an expense that those at the top can avoid. There's no easy fix, and that's the reality. Perhaps we've reached a point in societal development, though, where universal basic income makes sense. This might be the best answer for rural America. But, it's that evil "progressivism" again...
Having worked as a Forester in the west for 40 years I have spent a lot of time in rural areas.
The successful rural areas have become metropolitan areas. The list of communities in my 20's that I would have loved living in have in many cases become urban areas.
In fact, I lost track of one small community in Utah until 40 years later I was flying into Tucson and looked out the airplane window...and wondered "what are we flying over??". From a population of 7,000 to just under 200,000.
My list of great little towns has become a list of metro areas.
So by definition, rural areas will always have less capital and opportunities until they don't, then they become successful towns and cities.
A better question is how we improve the quality of life in rural areas, without them becoming a unliveable mess that our metro areas have become.
It isn't about money, but quality of life and providing opportunities for residents.
I don't find this to be the case with all. Salem County NJ has not become metro. It remains a combination of a few wealthy farm family's and a whole lot of former factory workers on public assistance. Certain areas have become suburban, but those are all transplants with jobs in other areas. Coal country in West Virginia has had decades to become an area of successful small cities and towns, but has failed as well. These areas all need supporting industries to become successful.
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.
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.
