Merry Christmas all. Hope you all had a good one this year, and that the year 2018 treats you well. I’m on a train leaving my hometown, heading to the city. I come from a place where you say you’re going to the city and everyone knows what you mean, even though it’s four hours away. This state is large and old and filled with the spirit of better times had. When we talk of two America’s this is the one we speak of in a lesser light. Or at least view it as a dimming light. There’s a feeling of if stagnancy that is unsettling to me and is something I finally put a pulse to this year. Now, there are some pocketed gasps or maybe grasps at revitalizing this small rust belt city which hasn’t been in the limelight since before WWII. Those places are great for my hometown. But there are so many unfulfilled promises, plans which fall apart immediately or in the last hour, and a general air of wanting things to get better but never truly believing it. These are the people who are the salt of the Earth, those who have never left the northeast or even their own home state. Some of them have never wanted to leave, the rest have never had the means or ambition to actually get out and explore. The attitudes are, at times, as calcified as the economic situation. I’m happy to be heading back west tomorrow. It feels more like home, or at least I’ve made more of a home there than I have anywhere else at this point in my life.
I've often wondered lately to what extent these collapsing towns could've been avoided if the people in them were willing to make more changes (beyond voting for a sociopath).Some of them have never wanted to leave, the rest have never had the means or ambition to actually get out and explore. The attitudes are, at times, as calcified as the economic situation.
I think it comes down to economy, right? There have to be revenue streams for any town. For some its manufacturing, others tourism/entertainment. Some cities and towns are tech-hubs, travel-hubs, etc. If you have a population of 5000, call it 3500 working adults, you need 3500 jobs that pay living wages within an hour or two, whether that is something inherently bringing value to your small town or else a robust connection and transit corridor to a larger city that you can leech off of. If at the end of the year, you simply don't have enough folks paying taxes, making enough to save a little bit AND spend in an economically healthy manner, your town is gonna starve. Might be fast, might be slow, but if you can't attract some kind of investment, nothing else really matters.
Sure, and that describes the death spiral pretty well. I guess my question (and I genuinely don't know the answer) is to what extent the failure to adapt to the changes is someone's fault. In other words, one of the reasons that immigration is good because it brings in the people who are willing to go through hardship in order to improve their lot. To what extent are these towns' collapse a reflection of the fact that the only people who stay are the ones who are unwilling to change?
I feel similar about my hometown even though it is nearly as remote, being only 20 minutes from Tel-Aviv. While the infrastructure is getting better and technology found its way, the social and educational aspect in this 30k city is going backwards with a scary speed. People are getting more conservative and music schools are closing down. I always have this feeling that I owe this place something. I have the urge to do something to make it less of a hell for the young generation so they have the same chance as me. Give something back. Do you also feel something similar?
No, I can’t say I feel like I owe my hometown anything. It happens to have been where I was born and raised, and easily could have been anywhere else or nowhere. I feel much more a sense of wanting to give back to the community I currently live in.
I was back in my own hometown on Monday. It's a small farming community. The population is about 2000 people and has been for decades. It's the largest town in any direction for 20 miles, with smaller towns of 600-1200 dotting the countryside every 7-10 miles. I live about 2.5 hours away in a city of about 250,000 with a metropolitan area of about double that. Interestingly, I feel no need or want to give anything back to my hometown. It isn't animosity; I'm not angry at them. I just feel nothing toward the town I grew up in.
Neither! I'm still in the northeast. Do keep seeing fare sales for Air Alaska to Denver...