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.
It's hard farm labor, which needs to be done by young people, who are nowadays a lot more tech-savvy and tech focused. I'm not surprised it's hard to find people at the absolutely rock bottom wages offered for these jobs. Minimum wage doesn't cover rent or the cost of buying a home anywhere, even in really cheap rural areas. People always complain "We can't find americans to do this job" but that's BS, the real statement is "we're too cheap to pay a fair wage for americans to do this job"
These were factory/industrial jobs, not farm labor, and I believe they were not rock bottom wages, but moderate middle class wages.
The problem seems to be that people just don't want to stay in small towns and rural areas, even if they have a good job.
No, because there are no rural homes available for them to move into. Should demand increase and developers start to build housing developments, condos and apartments, it becomes a suburb.
No, it's just a small growing town, like my own, not a suburb, if not in a metro. Perhaps that small town could grow into a metro, like mine is trying to do. If not in 2020, then maybe in 2030.
No,sir!
Property theft is very bad in rural areas. So is family/acquaintance violence. The gun prevalence tends to make the second more lethal, and it doesn't stop the first, as thieves in the country are gun owners too.
There's always been plenty of crime in the countryside. The least populous counties are also the most prone to the crimes because there aren't enough police.
The average stolen car has multiple ways of finding it once stolen, but a $250,000 tractor can be driven off a field in the middle of the night with nothing needed except the knowledge of how to start and drive it.
Tractors and other implements are driven off in the middle of the night, loaded onto flatbed semis, and are in another state before the sun comes up.
Same goes with livestock. Rustlers are still at it using modern methods.
People in rural areas still leave the keys in their vehicles and go to bed at night with the doors unlocked? In my town, which may be too big to be a rural town, you just don't do that. The police will advise you not to.
People in rural areas still leave the keys in their vehicles and go to bed at night with the doors unlocked? In my town, which may be too big to be a rural town, you just don't do that. The police will advise you not to.
People in rural areas still leave the keys in their vehicles and go to bed at night with the doors unlocked? In my town, which may be too big to be a rural town, you just don't do that. The police will advise you not to.
Out in the countryside, yes. Sometimes.
But the area around a farmhouse is different than their machine shed, horse barn, or other work areas.
Sometimes the farmhouse is always locked when it isn't occupied, but just as often, it's wide open and unlocked all the time. The house's location on the property can make a big difference, especially when the house is surrounded by grown shade trees and shrubbery.
Same goes for the equipment sheds. When in use, they tend to be wide open, but in the winters, they are locked up tight.
Thieves don't like surprises. They tend to avoid any building where discovery can happen quickly, especially those that they aren't familiar with. They also beware of any farm that has a few dogs around, as they're the most reliable burglar alarms ever.
Thieves also tend to avoid the folks who obviously know their business. That's usually the farm family who's lived in their place for years and makes their living off the land.
The folks who buy a place as a hobby farm, fresh from the big city, who don't know anyone and leave their place to go to work every day are often the thief's best targets.
Property crime is always the most frequent country crime. Big vandalism can be frequent in some places, especially if there's a family grudge that starts up between two families.
And though the violent crime may be rare, out in the country, it can be extremely violent when it happens.
When I had a Ford Focus wagon, I got in the habit of leaving it unlocked, because there was no keyhole for the front passenger door. The Buick Encore can be unlocked without removing the key fob from my pocket, so I lock it.
My home was burglarized 10 years ago. It was locked, and there was a large but aging dog penned outside. Made no difference. It was burglarized during the day when I was at work. Entering an occupied home in the US is dangerous, so it rarely occurs. Not so in other countries with gun laws that disarm the law-abiding citizen.
There was a series of thefts at a graduation ceremony some years ago. Unlocked vehicles with valuables inside had the valuables stolen. Locked vehicles with valuables inside had a window broken, and the valuables stolen.
All a closed door does is keep the cat out. All a locked door does is keep the dog out.
When I had a Ford Focus wagon, I got in the habit of leaving it unlocked, because there was no keyhole for the front passenger door. The Buick Encore can be unlocked without removing the key fob from my pocket, so I lock it.
My home was burglarized 10 years ago. It was locked, and there was a large but aging dog penned outside. Made no difference. It was burglarized during the day when I was at work. Entering an occupied home in the US is dangerous, so it rarely occurs. Not so in other countries with gun laws that disarm the law-abiding citizen.
There was a series of thefts at a graduation ceremony some years ago. Unlocked vehicles with valuables inside had the valuables stolen. Locked vehicles with valuables inside had a window broken, and the valuables stolen.
All a closed door does is keep the cat out. All a locked door does is keep the dog out.
Probably there will be some net migration to the exurbs, as people try to get away from the riots and crimes of the big cities and inner suburbs.
Absolute rural areas, though, will stay rural. Most city people don't want a true rural lifestyle.
I knew a couple who had a busy chiropractic office in Phoenix. They told me they used to have a horse ranch out in the desert, north of the valley.
But their neighbors enjoyed setting off firecrackers, sometimes right at the horses, terrifying them into stampeding. Fun, fun. The neighbors said to them: "Out here, we are the law."
Being good city people, they ended up selling the land and moving their horses elsewhere. They did it quietly, so as not to anger the neighbors (somehow).
A real rural American might have reacted differently. I could see someone showing up after a firecracker party, holding a 12 gauge shell. "See this? It's got your name on it. If you shoot any more firecrackers at my horses, you're going to end up with a whole bunch of little lead balls in your belly. You see, I'm also the law. Your move."
Probably there will be some net migration to the exurbs, as people try to get away from the riots and crimes of the big cities and inner suburbs.
Absolute rural areas, though, will stay rural. Most city people don't want a true rural lifestyle.
I knew a couple who had a busy chiropractic office in Phoenix. They told me they used to have a horse ranch out in the desert, north of the valley.
But their neighbors enjoyed setting off firecrackers, sometimes right at the horses, terrifying them into stampeding. Fun, fun. The neighbors said to them: "Out here, we are the law."
Being good city people, they ended up selling the land and moving their horses elsewhere. They did it quietly, so as not to anger the neighbors (somehow).
A real rural American might have reacted differently. I could see someone showing up after a firecracker party, holding a 12 gauge shell. "See this? It's got your name on it. If you shoot any more firecrackers at my horses, you're going to end up with a whole bunch of little lead balls in your belly. You see, I'm also the law. Your move."
It’s not a matter of whether they came from the city or elswhere. It’s a matter of how much backbone they have. Neighbors like the ones you described are bullies. If someone fights back, they might get meaner. They also might leave the people alone.
Don’t let jerks ruin the legal uses of your own property. Longtime locals don’t have more rights than anybody else, and their notion of being The Law can be used equally—and with the same tools—by newcomers.
Many in the large cities already owned vacation homes in the suburbs. Some had relatives and they moved in with their relatives. Here is a good article that appeared in the New York Post: https://nypost.com/2020/06/10/new-yo...rvivors-guilt/. I quote from that link:
"The nerve-racking — even identity-defining — debate about whether to stay or go is taking place online, too. A Facebook group called Into the Unknown launched in April as a forum for people “who have decided or are considering — willingly or otherwise — to join the exodus from NYC.” Its more than 4,500 members dissect the topic daily."
There is also one more piece of this puzzle; many jobs became 'work-at-home' jobs. My PA county was known for the longest commute in the Nation because we had so many that commuted to NYC every day. Now many of them can work from home and no longer have to go to the office. By doing so more of their money is staying in our County. While they could be taxed on their jobs over there, they are buying all their needs here. No more long commute, buying fuel, tolls, parking fees, lunches, or whatever over there.
Why would anyone own a vacation home “in the suburbs”? My winter place is at a ski resort. My summer place is on the coast. Technically, that’s a suburb but it has beaches and a harbor with lots o’ boats.
I started telecommuting in 2009. I ditched my expensive primary residence in a big metro area. I need a solid broadband internet connection and rock-solid cell phone service. I need to be able to get to a good airport. My ski place is 25 minutes from a real grocery store and an hour from the full set of big box stores. I wouldn’t want to be much farther.
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.
