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It seems as if this is a discussion that folks don't want to have here on CD. My family is from one of those dying or dead hollowed out towns on the plains. If remedy isn't found and applied soon, whether from in house or regionally, the town will be dead after my generation has passed on because the following generations were schooled elsewhere and have for the most part left the area permanently. My guess: It will wither completely with a few stalwart families holding out and holding onto the remaining town assets. It is already 80-90% there now.
In no way can that dying prairie town be compared to where I live rurally in southern CT, nor any rural resort area, snowbird locale or mountain retreat where people with coin go to retire or vacation. And pretty scenery isn't enough to cut it. We do a lot of back roads traveling out of pure curiosity when we have the time. There are some very lovely areas in rural PA have the same feeling of existential dread as that little town on the BFE prairie. There is a problem, finding courage, candor and will to face those problems on a town/regional level is the issue. That said, there may be no solution.
... Do you think all your neighbors would agree to stay relatively poor for the entirety of their lives just to live rural?
In our town [population 235] over half the residents are retirees that moved here after they retired.
They chose to move here.
So "would they agree to stay poor to live rural?" They already have.
The young families who are raising children here, have okay jobs and they would have the ability to move away if they decided that they wanted to move.
So, yes I think I can safely say that everyone living here in our town has already made the decision to live rural accepting that it will be poor for the foreseeable future.
The people who want high paying jobs have already gone. Both of my sons, wanted higher pay so they left.
And if today’s polarized politics are noxious, what might they look like in a country perpetually divided between diverse, prosperous liberal cities and a largely white rural America in decline? As Mr. Galston warned: “Think through the political consequences of saying to a substantial portion of Americans, which is even more substantial in political terms, ‘We think you’re toast.’ ”
The distress of 50 million Americans should concern everyone. Powerful economic forces are arrayed against rural America and, so far, efforts to turn it around have failed. Not every small town can be a tech hub, nor should it be. But that can’t be the only answer.
50 million (out of 60 million rural) Americans are not in distress. That's what we're saying.
I agree with you. But in this thread, no one has stated that and in fact have stated the opposite. But others are implying either that no rural area wants or needs any help (especially if it comes from liberals) OR that they like their area economically depressed because they got a great home cheap.
I am again, not a city girl. I lived in a city (Philly) for one year of college. I grew up in a farm town and now live in a relatively rural area though not far from civilization. But the people I work with who are suffering in the poor rural counties that I work with are real. To deny that people in those economically depressed areas want or need help or jobs is grossly unfair to them. But stating this does not in any way state that rural counties are all poor. Some of the wealthiest towns in NJ are in rural areas with nothing but mansions and horse farms in northern NJ.
It seems as if this is a discussion that folks don't want to have here on CD. My family is from one of those dying or dead hollowed out towns on the plains. If remedy isn't found and applied soon, whether from in house or regionally, the town will be dead after my generation has passed on because the following generations were schooled elsewhere and have for the most part left the area permanently. My guess: It will wither completely with a few stalwart families holding out and holding onto the remaining town assets. It is already 80-90% there now.
In no way can that dying prairie town be compared to where I live rurally in southern CT, nor any rural resort area, snowbird locale or mountain retreat where people with coin go to retire or vacation. And pretty scenery isn't enough to cut it. We do a lot of back roads traveling out of pure curiosity when we have the time. There are some very lovely areas in rural PA have the same feeling of existential dread as that little town on the BFE prairie. There is a problem, finding courage, candor and will to face those problems on a town/regional level is the issue. That said, there may be no solution.
I grew up in a dying town in Coal Country. And I've spent a lot of time in declining towns on the BFE prairie- my inlaws still live there. I live in a city these days and have no plans to change that, but I know declining rural areas pretty well.
By and large they really don't *want* help. Or at least they won't admit it. There's a variety of reasons for that. Here's my list:
1. A lot of these are old people. They've got their pensions, social security, etc. They don't care about jobs, schools, broadband, a future... none of that really applies to them. They just watch Fox News and hate whomever they're told they should hate.
2. Brain-drain. The best and brightest (or frankly a LOT of people with some intelligence, ambition, work ethic) just don't stay in a dying coal mining town like where I grew up. And they don't stay outside a dusty, shrinking town on the high plains like where my wife grew up. They do what we both did... they move away to better opportunities in a city. And the people who stay are often those who don't have the ambition, intelligence, or resources to leave. Not the kind of people who will ever turn that place around... and not the kind of people willing and able to have a constructive discussion about why their town is dying.
3. Politics. 'Fox News' and 'Trump' are really all that needs to be said.
It seems as if this is a discussion that folks don't want to have here on CD. My family is from one of those dying or dead hollowed out towns on the plains. If remedy isn't found and applied soon, whether from in house or regionally, the town will be dead after my generation has passed on because the following generations were schooled elsewhere and have for the most part left the area permanently. My guess: It will wither completely with a few stalwart families holding out and holding onto the remaining town assets. It is already 80-90% there now.
In no way can that dying prairie town be compared to where I live rurally in southern CT, nor any rural resort area, snowbird locale or mountain retreat where people with coin go to retire or vacation. And pretty scenery isn't enough to cut it. We do a lot of back roads traveling out of pure curiosity when we have the time. There are some very lovely areas in rural PA have the same feeling of existential dread as that little town on the BFE prairie. There is a problem, finding courage, candor and will to face those problems on a town/regional level is the issue. That said, there may be no solution.
What does the acronym BFE pertain too? I’m not familiar of the context used here.
BFE is an abbreviation for "Bum F**k Egypt" which is used to denote "out in the middle of nowhere." Think remote and isolated then drive an hour or two. Maybe a midwest thang.
BFE is an abbreviation for "Bum F**k Egypt" which is used to denote "out in the middle of nowhere." Think remote and isolated then drive an hour or two. Maybe a midwest thang.
It might be a Midwest thing. But back to my beating a dead horse thing. Rural is different depend on location. Some farm community of 500 in the Midwest might be dying, But in CA or NV or AZ a town of that size is seeing growth. What I see in CA where I live, is locals getting together and asking “what can we do”. I suspect one does not see this attitude in the Midwest. We have high speed internet, because the locals said to Comcast do it and you’ll have paying customers.
...But in CA or NV or AZ a town of that size is seeing growth. What I see in CA where I live, is locals getting together and asking “what can we do”. I suspect one does not see this attitude in the Midwest. We have high speed internet, because the locals said to Comcast do it and you’ll have paying customers.
It's why we are in CT for a large part. There's still community here, even for new folks.
Most of my family all live in a rural area in Oklahoma and I have actually experience quite the opposite then many threads are stating. My mom works at a hospital, she drives about 45 mins each way, which is not at all unreasonable my commute from IL to STL is about the same. The closest grocery stores are about 30 mins away but again not unreasonable. A couple of years ago they wanted to bring in a small hospital but everyone in the area opposed it and it never happened. No one in the community wanted a hospital smack dab in the middle of town because they were worried about traffic congestion, noise & property value, there are many large farms in the area. Many of the people living in the area still use propane, satellite internet and when the roads get bad you're mostly stuck for awhile, not to mention there is no fast food deliveries, you're schlepping into the next town about 30-45 mins away but they choose to live in that area, most just commute into the city or make a living from farms. They don't want the area turned into a large urban city or they would just move into the city.
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.
I rest my case and defer my time to the Peanut Gallery.
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) OR that they like their area economically depressed because they got a great home cheap. 
