Small-Town America Is Dying. How Can We Save It?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/opinion/rural-america-economy-revive.html

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Can America’s languishing rural communities reinvigorate themselves and bring jobs, infrastructure and people back to their increasingly austere landscapes? Or is it time to cut and run?

In “The Hard Truths of Trying to ‘Save’ the Rural Economy,” Eduardo Porter writes about their grim prospects. Among more than 1,000 comments from readers, rural Americans talked about the harsh reality of living in, and sometimes having to leave, a small town with few job prospects or a failing family farm.

Geographic and cultural stasis concerned Sil Tuppins, a reader from Tennessee: “We are leaders in opiate deaths and abuse. We continue to be historically low educated. And our rural folk stay in their communities for a lifetime. That is a prescription for failure in a technology driven world.”

“Accepting that some of these communities will die also requires acknowledging the suffering that goes along with their ending,” wrote Betsy S, a reader in Otsego County, N.Y. “I don’t know the answer, but I am absolutely certain demanding individual responsibility isn’t going to make anything better.”

More comments from readers are below. They have been edited for length and clarity.

I’m from Appalachia, where getting into the working class was an aspiration. I was raised “up the holler” and know the culture intimately. You have no idea of the amount of anger, self-righteousness, bigotry and willful ignorance you’re dealing with. I have seen a blighted small town use a corrupt sheriff and judge to run off a business owned by a black man. I have been present when an entire community looked the other way when a gay couple was burned out of their home.

They support Trump and the reason is simple: He acts just like they would if they had money. There is no saving this culture, nor should you want to save it. The people who could have revitalized it have either left for better opportunities or been run off. It’s a breeding ground for hatred and despair, dying with a Bible in one arm and a heroin needle in the other. Let it die. — Peregrinus, Erehwon

I guess it took the total disaster of Donald Trump for the rest of America to finally see us out here. I completely object to the defeatist tone of this article. Don’t tell me that the thinkers and innovators of this great country can’t devise workable solutions for our rural areas. Moving to an urban area isn’t an option for everyone. It’s risky for people older than 40 to move without an offer already in hand. Many would be competing for low-paid jobs in a new place where they can’t afford to live because of skyrocketing housing costs. People are already fleeing cities for that very reason. Please give these people some credit for seeing the obvious. It’s not just that they don’t want to live in the city. — Madeline Conant, Midwest

I grew up on a 60-acre farm and my recollections of it are idyllic, though money was always in short supply. Eventually, my father realized that he had to sell. He could no longer maintain it. Leaving the only lifestyle my parents ever knew was excruciating for them and for me and my siblings. This issue is much more complex than big city folk can truly appreciate. How does one compensate for the areas of the heart and soul which will be lost forever when that last box of memories have been packed up and placed in the pickup truck? — Marge Keller, Midwest

I was born in a tiny central Illinois town. When I was in third grade, my parents made the decision to move to Champaign-Urbana, Ill., so that my brother and I would have the opportunity for a much better education. It’s ironic that small-town and rural folk take so much pride in self-sufficiency yet won’t move to improve their prospects.

Immigrants make huge and often dangerous journeys to improve their chances and those of their children. You don’t have to move to the biggest cities. There are many small and midsize cities that offer much better education and job opportunities. It’s scary, but you owe it to your kids to be brave and do it. — BA, Milwaukee

Sioux County, Nebraska, may never be a tech hub, but why not make an effort in Columbus, Ohio? Tech companies claim H1-B visas are critical to their success. So make the visas geographically dependent. If 43,500 visas are to be given out, grant 100 to each Congressional District rather than giving them all to the firms in Silicon Valley or New York. Give tech a reason to set up facilities in places other than the usual. — Jim S., Cleveland

In the 1930s the government began implementing economic policies intended to move people off farms and into manufacturing, such as mines and timber mills. Small-town factories kept rural areas afloat for a while but were among the first to close in the ’70s and ’80s. At the same time, the farms kept getting bigger. We are seeing the culmination of all that now.

How to fix it? Change economic policy to favor small and midsize farms and factories, and invest in rural infrastructure, especially high-speed internet. Plenty of folk would happily trade in the expensive, crowded cities. — RB, Rhode Island

The author fails to understand the power of lots of little. I come from farm country and we were able to support the growth of IBM just fine. Why? We were resilient and hardworking. We are a community of people, each with many skills. Don’t be jerks. Spread the peanut butter already. — cleverclue, Yellow Springs, Ohio

I live in Winthrop, Me., a small town of 6,000. Maine has suffered the way other rural areas have, with the same results: opioid addiction, an aging population, low-wage jobs. Statewide, affordable high-speed broadband internet connection would be a huge help, allowing people to telecommute or start up their own small businesses. What has not worked is luring big businesses in with tax breaks. Been there, done that, and most of them left. — Laurie Graves, Maine

Tech industries and manufacturers now look at the quality of life, not just tax breaks, when scouting locations. If you were trying to recruit computer geniuses, would you pick a town with no recreation, movies, stores (beyond Dollar General), restaurants (except McDonald’s), outdoor recreation, and where alcoholism and drugs are the major source of entertainment? Is this the kind of place you’d want to live, work and raise kids? — Linda, Oklahoma

I was able to return to my small-town roots once the internet became reliable. I am able to fly to major clients in big cities when needed, but live on a working crop farm. Telecommuting is on the rise. I work for large banks where we thrive on conference calls, even when we’re in the same city or buildings. People do not have to be in the same room to work together. — Waino, Mich.

This article came out during the same week that the Natural Resources Defense Council posted its latest analysis of rural job growth in the wind and solar sectors. While there are no easy answers in the hard-hit rural areas, the growth of clean-energy jobs is a rare new opportunity and I’m excited to see solar job training opportunities expanding across our region. — Andre Delattre, Chicago

A bison commons would not be a stretch. Ecological restoration is an urgent need across vast stretches of rural America that have suffered from poor land use, extraction industries, invasive species, loss of native biodiversity and a blighting of the rural landscape. There are huge opportunities for employment in restoration: native plant and seed nurseries, stewardship of nature preserves, creation of native pollinator habitats, hunting properties, sustainable farming and outdoor recreation facilities are just some. All it takes is a vision to ‘Make America Beautiful Again.’ And, of course, a reassessment of our values as a nation.

How to pay? Consider where all the wealth extracted from rural America has gone. Your mutual fund index portfolios would not be a bad place to start searching. — Lou Nelms, Mason City, Ill.

I live in a very small town (population 3,300) in a very rural county (population 7,000) in extremely eastern Idaho. You want to help communities like mine? Come talk to us. We know the answer to economic development for each of our communities and it is not one size fits all. Don’t expect that whatever the policymakers in Washington come up with will work. — Iron Jenny, Idaho

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