Changing Trends in rural America (water, chickens, cost of living, countryside)

[2mares]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

I grew up and spend time in a rural town, but I'm not sure what you are looking for. In my opinion, the problems small towns are facing are pretty well known, and I'll list them but I'm not sure I have anything to add or any special insight into solving them.


They are:

braindrain, lack of jobs (school district was the largest and highest paying employer in my town), average at best education (50% of my teachers were straight out of college), few advanced learning opportunities (no AP for example), 'suburbanization' - where the old part of town was replaced by large lots without the tax base to support that.

discrimination - my town was 50-50% white to hispanic.
lack of businesses/lack of shopping

lack of technology either by choice or due to economic constraints (the local tv provider refused to carry MTV even into the 1990s) (lots of rural communities lack decent internet service)
drugs & crime (way more than DFW suburbia)

lack of public money for libraries, street repair, sidewalks, public services like pools.
Almost no public amenities (all the best land and stuff is privately owned)

dilapidated housing/lots of junk piles/ unleashed dogs/general decay
teen pregnancy (1st girl in my class had a baby at 13. by 18 years old, 7 of the 15 had had babies).
No access to state funding for anything other than schools and highways due to lack of knowledge how to apply.
Since doctors are far away, most old people die of things that are generally considered preventable in larger towns.

meh, I live in a small town. Its so small it has no census population. The nearest incorporated town is 6 miles and has a population of ~2800.
Not a lot of job opportunities without a commute to neighboring towns.
The area has become much more diverse in the past 40 years. I have neighbors and friends who are Hispanic, black, Indian and Asian. There has never been cases of racial tension or violence.
We have internet providers and get all the TV programs.
Crime is everywhere.
We have good roads, parks, pools, libraries, festivals, theater, etc. Sidewalks are limited though.
Neighborhoods are diverse. You have gaited communities, HOAs, farms, etc. areas where a trashy trailer is next to a 1/2 million dollar home.
Municipalities receive state and federal funding for projects all the time.
Teen pregnancy rate is declining in all states.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Hospitals are mostly chock-full of professional, fairly well-paid personnel.

So are schools and banks. Yet, they continue to exist in many small communities where small local hospitals and basic care clinics have pulled out.

I have relatives living in the area where you are from, a bit further south...the parents are both are RNs, former Navy corpsmen. Both have had to rework their careers several times over as hospital closures affected the communities in their rural area. The wife ended up being the chief breadwinner, but that involved a lengthy commute to a hospital that had a functioning ER, and working all overnight triage. The husband has done mostly industrial/organizational work...going around to factories and warehouses and doing shift wellness programs, conducting hearing checks and workmen's comp examinations, etc. This allowed him enough flexibility to be home with kids as needed. But working regular, local hospital shifts? Not a possibility. Nowhere to work.

[TabulaRasa]

At any rate, the research question posed by the thread related to "changing trends in a rural community that is having a negative impact on residents," and problems facing rural culture.

My response, all the way back on page 1, was that lack of local access to necessary healthcare and mental healthcare fits both of those bills, and represents a significant barricade to those living in rural America.

I stand by that. I find it interesting that it's been so hotly debated, when it's perfectly true.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Just a thought --

I am wondering if many small rural "tourist-y" places will eventually turn into large and mostly unregulated (unplanned) retirement centers. It seems to me that for those of us who do not like the idea of living in a 55+ planned retirement community, that might be an ideal solution: lots of activities and beautiful scenery that would appeal to tourists in the summer might also provide an ideal retirement all year long.

We are (hopefully) moving to our retirement home in Door County, Wisconsin next year. Door County has a population about 29,000 for the whole county, with town populations ranging from about 200 to about 1,500, except for one "big" town (Sturgeon Bay, pop. about 10,000). Door County booms with tourists in the summer and again in October during peak foliage season, and so it has several major supermarkets and a major medical center, plus Green Bay is only an hour or so away, and it has many festivals and sporting activities throughout the entire year (which is a benefit that you pointed out). The only reason we can think of that Door County is not more popular with retirees is because the winters are long and cold -- but my husband and I enjoy all four seasons.

Lots of experience from a recreation standpoint with Door County and other tourism-heavy areas further north in Wisconsin.

My experience is that younger, healthy retirees don't mind the long, cold, snowy/icy winter issues...but as soon as any health concerns or mobility issues begin to creep in, the bloom is gone from the rose.

Although our main family friends who were year-round residents of northern WI did end up selling their northwoods lakefront vacation home, and now snowbird to Florida now that they are in their late 60s, early 70s. They're quite healthy (and he's as retired doctor), but I think that battling the elements just got old. But they were lifelong year-round residents in WI. Might just be that a change of pace became warranted.

[bgrasser]

From what I’ve seen, some people have large tracts of land, and are land rich, not selling, but passing it down.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

Lots of experience from a recreation standpoint with Door County and other tourism-heavy areas further north in Wisconsin.

My experience is that younger, healthy retirees don't mind the long, cold, snowy/icy winter issues...but as soon as any health concerns or mobility issues begin to creep in, the bloom is gone from the rose.

Although our main family friends who were year-round residents of northern WI did end up selling their northwoods lakefront vacation home, and now snowbird to Florida now that they are in their late 60s, early 70s. They're quite healthy (and he's as retired doctor), but I think that battling the elements just got old. But they were lifelong year-round residents in WI. Might just be that a change of pace became warranted.

I'm in Vilas County, WI Northwoods at least 4-6 times a year, one of my top few picks of retirement locations. I toured a nice contemporary R-65 built house with low operating costs and within 10-15 minutes of town. The heat and humidity wear me down much more every year than cold and snow ever did. It was a nice 38 degrees there this morning.

[Rivertowntalk]

I think obesity is a dangerous trend in rural areas. There is a general lack of health and wellness in rural communities. It does seem like there are fewer people smoking though. I think people in rural areas are losing their local rural accents. Not really negative, but many no longer have the rural twang that use to be in the hills.

[SterkIjon]

What I have observed is the only way some small towns are able to keep their schools and maintain population is if they are within 40 miles of a city with JOBS.

My former central Minnesota town had 4 grocery stores, 3 hardware stores, 3 auto dealerships, 2 tractor dealerships, movie theatre, 2 busy restaurants, doctor, den tist, thriving weekly newspaper.

ALL is gone except ONE hardware store.

Only ONE convenience store but the population has gone up from 700-1100.

Nearly everyone comutes to work and buys their gas, groceries, supplies in the city where they work.

[IndyDancer]

Hospitals have already been mentioned, but as a sub-set of that, maternity care and infant mortality rates are a worsening situation.

I can't find the exact article I read over the weekend (the one below makes most of the same points), but highlights:

1. Woman may be 30 minutes to 2 hours from the nearest facility that can deliver a baby.
2. They have more challenges getting time off work or transportation to those facilities.
3. Projected shortage of OB/GYN's - and no one wants to practice in the rural areas, because it winds up being a 24/7 on-call job as they are the only resource in town. (from the first article, not this one)


Where do women go? | Local | newsbug.info

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by IndyDancer

Hospitals have already been mentioned, but as a sub-set of that, maternity care and infant mortality rates are a worsening situation.

I can't find the exact article I read over the weekend (the one below makes most of the same points), but highlights:

1. Woman may be 30 minutes to 2 hours from the nearest facility that can deliver a baby.
2. They have more challenges getting time off work or transportation to those facilities.
3. Projected shortage of OB/GYN's - and no one wants to practice in the rural areas, because it winds up being a 24/7 on-call job as they are the only resource in town. (from the first article, not this one)


Where do women go? | Local | newsbug.info

Yep. My hometown hospital (where I and all my siblings were born in the late 70s, early 80s, and where my dad was born in the late 40s), which is at this point essentially a small ER/triage area, closed its OBGYN services in about 2004. I was working as a news reporter locally, and recall covering it when they delivered their last infant.

Now, the nearest services for expectant mothers are a minimum of 25 miles away, one way, which presents a real danger in high risk pregnancies.

Also, it's not just the delivery that is an issue, it's prenatal care. When you are in the stage of pregnancy where it's biweekly and weekly checkups, it's really difficult to get an entire half - day off work to go do it at that frequency. In my pregnancies, I was ten minutes from my clinic and could do them over lunch.