Micropolitans of the Heartland

I have often fantasized about opening a bookstore in a small Wisconsin town 90 minutes from here, where we could purchase a house significantly larger than what we own now and at a much reduced price. I'm an online bookseller so the online sales would keep the bookstore afloat and make up for limited traffic in the store. But there's no Orthodox church there. Alas. It's fun to think about though.

"Growth nodes" aside, most of rural Nebraska and the Dakotas is almost surely emptying out. All those old little crossroads towns with a grocery, a gas station, a feed store and a church are just not self-supporting any more. But decent highways and the internal-combustion engine are to "blame" for that. I'll take the trade-off.

Not really. I've been through the area, and love the landscape. Staunton has the Shakespeare festival, and small colleges. And a beautiful downtown. And Polyface Farms is nearby.

I've always had fantasies about running away to live in Rutland or White River Junction or even Burlington, Vermont. It's just that when you've lived in, or near, New York City your whole life, it's a part of your blood. You might actually die of boredom. I went to college in western New York (Binghamton), and I could never sleep because it was so damned quite (I grew up next to an elevated subway). Of course I solved that by taking full advantage of the nighttime hours and partying all the time.:)

Staunton, Virginia, doesn't just have a Shakespeare Festival; it has a recreation of the Blackfriars Theater, and they're trying to build a recreated Globe. See http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/. I went to college not far from Staunton at James Madison University. To be honest, I would recommend towns other than Staunton -- namely Waynesboro, Lexington, or even Charlottesville. Virginia is a beautiful state, and you have big cities, mountains, and the ocean all within a few hours drive.

I got a B.S. and a B.A. while living in Fargo and Moorhead,MN [across the Red River] from '89 to 97 and again from '01 to '03. It has its upsides: three colleges within 6 miles of each other, NCAA sports in all three divisions, great shopping, in-town manufacturing, sidewalks everywhere [don't laugh-- here in Hot Springs, the dearth of the things make it almost impossible to ditch the car and walk anywhere], a great park and rec system, great public ed. should you choose it, great Catholic schools if you choose that [Fargo Shanley High, where Roger Maris graduated in 1954], the biggest mall between teMpls and Seattle, an eclectic arts secene, low unemployment, and a burgeoning ethnic population-- Sudanese, Ethiopian, Lebanese, Greek, Mexican, Asian, all with culture, restaurants, and stores to match thanks to Aid Association for Lutherans Center for New Americans having their HQ there. There are two Y's, places to build, a zoo, and the eclectic stuff that goes with being a university town. The downside: WINTER. If you can take -10 degrees for 10+ nights in a row, Fargo might be for you. If you don't mind driving in a milk bottle during a ground blizzard, Fargo might be for you. If an inch of snow keeps you indoors for a week, like here in Arkansas, Fargo is NOT for you. k.

I think Alvin Toffler may have the answer for why people talk about this but it doesn't happen. I can't remember if it was in Future Shock or one of his other books, but he wrote somewhere that high tech would never replace "high touch." In othe words, I'll always prefer to read a book rather than something on line because I can touch it. I can pick it up. I can smell the pages and experience the way they feel to my fingers. So sure, we can always buy a book from Amazon online, but it is not the same as going to a real bookstore. Same for other things. Those little towns are all places you could live your intellectual life in by going on line, but it wouldn't be the same as experiencing it more directly, and to do that you have to live in a place big enough to provide what you need.

Is the country really the answer? Is it best for our kids? In an urban area, it is relatively easy to find enclaves of like minded people, be they co-religionists, home schooling groups, ethnic groups, and what have you. In the country, you may find yourself in a monolithic community where the kids have nothing to do except drink, have sex, and do drugs. I like to visit the country, but right now, I think the suburbs are just fine for my kids.

Yes, but what happens when the liberal yuppies make their city an unlivable hell-hole? They move out to these cute little towns, to escape that which they have championed, then they proceed to remake the small town in their hideous image. "Oh we love the small town. But I NEED a Starbucks, a Super Target or Walmart, and about five other things within a mile of me. After all, I can't live like a barbarian!!!" And then the developers come in, with their $300,000 homes on postage-stamp size lawns ("It's selfish to have a lawn bigger than your diveway!"). And the condos, which in my small, Texas town are ALL owned by people from California, some of whom have never set foot in this state, according to the condo salesman (who is giddy). And then we need apartment complexes, to house the folks who will work the "essential" services that the yuppies need (and when they're laid off the real fun begins). And then we need to clear the ugly tree-infested land (and the animals) to make room for animal-loving yuppies who want to drink lattes and compare Ted Nugent to Hitler while deer carcases are stewn all over the increasingly busy roads. And then the mayor will say "Hey, we're a medium-size town pretending to be a small town. We need more amentities. Let's raise local taxes." After all, being a mayor of a small town is loserville, man. It's no stepping stone to real politics (stealing other people's money). And then in comes IKEA, or some software company, or some other large entity, then we all get to drop our pants and bend over. Where I live the IKEA changed the street name to "1 IKEA Avenue." I don't know why they just didn't declare themselves a sovereign state. They're due to start paying taxes sometime in the 22nd century, unless they suddenly pack up and move.

Man from K Street, I can find NO summary of LANCELOT which matches yours. And wasn't Percy himself a supporter of the values that you think are derided in that novel? Are you a Deconstructionist English Professor?

Rod, thanks for the clarification - I was going to ask if you really do like living in Dallas? My husband and I are thinking of relocating there possibly in the next year from D.C. - we know it's a big city, but we're both from Midwestern suburbs so we're comfortable with suburbs, much happier with the prices, and think it might be a good place to settle and start our family. Even if technology will allow some people to relocate to smaller town, I really think you have to go where the jobs are at this point. You can't just move to rural Kansas (sorry) and hope to find a job there unless you already know you've got one.

"Oh we love the small town. But I NEED a Starbucks, a Super Target or Walmart, and about five other things within a mile of me. After all, I can't live like a barbarian!!!" In my Louisiana hometown, many of the longtime local residents are quite eager for a Wal-Mart to come to town. It's the wealthier, preservationist-minded class that opposes Wal-Mart because they don't want the rural and semi-rural nature of the parish to be ended by the advent of strip malls and big-box stores. It's a class issue in many respects.

Maybe I'm spoiled having grown up and lived where I have, but in Central and Western Pa. and Southeast and South central Ohio, there seem to be quite a few places like the ones being described here.

My wife and I have tried to strike a balance over the years by opting for college towns - Princeton, NJ; Amherst, MA; now, Santa Fe, NM. We've tried the rural lifestyle a couple of times so we could keep livestock - Wellington, CO; Pecos, NM. But we found ourselves spending all our free time driving to the closest bigger town so we could hang out at Borders. We tried the city - north Jersey where we grew up; Worcester, MA; Tucson, AZ. We finally reached the point where we were tired of trying to find the "perfect place." And lo and behold, we ended up damn close once we stopped trying so hard. I'm uncomfortable with the thought of a society where everyone lived a nomadic, unsettled life in their 20's and 30's like we did. And it's had its downsides for sure. But then again, most people don't. I think the majority of my high school graduating class 20 years ago never left the immediate area. They make do where they are. Bless, Doug

By the way, Howie Dahl, mentioned in the blog entry, has been very active in the Fargo-area Chesterton Society. That is a good example of the kind of thing that smaller cities can do and need to do for themselves: discussion groups focused on reading and interesting guest speakers. Sort of like the old Chatauquas?

Major wrote: Of course the floods we can get when the winter snow melts can be frightening I was there in 1997 for the Great April 6th Flizzard. Watches and warnings for [no joke] tornadoes, winter storm, flash flood, severe thunderstorm, sleet, freezing rain, straight line winds, low visibility travelers advisory,and roadwash. we were standing in a snowstorm sump pumping the window wells to keep the basement windows from cracking and flooding my roommates' bedrooms, shoveling snow, and sandbagging all at the same time. A particularly bad day at the end of a horrific winter. The weather guy on WDAY, John Wheeler, was pretty much spinning where he stood. That April was and will be the worst month in my memory for a very long time. And the Forks had it infinitely worse than we did. k.

I come from an unicorperated viliage--actually a mile or two outside the unincorporated village--and I miss it. But my family has roots here in New Albania, and I couldn't get them out with dynamite. However--I left that small place because I couldn't make money there in ammounts enough to support a family!

I rather like Waukesha, Wisconsin as a place to live. It's a nice, booming suburb so it has some cultural stuff but it is not too far from Chicago that we can't drive down there to party with friends every weekend weather, health and car permitting. The only drawback is winter. They keep promising us global warming but it still managed to get well below zero here for days on end this month and now we have a pile of snow! There is little point to have a nice local theater company if it is too damned cold out to go to the play.