Are we at risk of losing small towns.....

An article on CNN.com drew my interest to what appears to be the accelerated loss of small towns in America. With little in the way of infrastructure and an obsession to incorporate into larger population areas, will small towns survive the next 20 years? I just returned from Colorado, and in spite of the robustness of the ski resort areas such as Vail, which, in my opinion, are nothing more than mountain redoubts for the wealthy, there is nothing in the way of real industry, other than low paying service jobs, that can sustain local inhabitants.

Here's the article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/10/14/aurora.makeover.ap/index.html

moving into pristine areas? I wouldnt.

as regional manufacturing and farming either become more mechanized or outsourced, and alot of states are desperately trying to transform into more of a tech/service economy, it's much easier to attract those jobs to already-established cities, especially since the younger generation that specializes in those industries would also be more attracted to the much more varied experiences of larger towns.

It's weird, and it's even hitting mid-size towns too. Here in AZ, Tucson is watching a good number of its population moving up to the Phoenix Metro area, even while Phoenix Metro has been struggling against the much larger Los Angeles metro for its entire life.

for at least the last 50 years. Folks have been migrating to larger metropolitan areas for work, culture, shopping, all the things that a larger population base can offer. Folks that live in rural and small town Amerika have few options as to how to earn a livelihood. With the rise of corporate farms even agriculture is not a viable option. And most of these places are well off the beaten path. Not heavily traveled. We think of the Appalachians as being poor - but there are rural areas in the US that have significantly higher poverty rates.

I grew up and was educated in a small town. Like my classmates, I migrated to a metropolitan area in search of education and employment. Until the advent of the service economy my venture fared well. Now I find that I can no longer earn a living here. And I cannot go home. Sucks. Still, I'd like to move to the mountains. Nothing the city offers appeals to me.

"Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town"

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/my+little+town_20124588.html

Words & music by paul simon 1975

In my little town
I grew up believ--ing
God keeps his eye on us all
And he used to lean upon me
As I pledged allegiance to the wall
Lord I recall
My little town

Coming home after school
Flying my bike past the gates
Of the factories
My mom doing the laundry
Hanging our shirts
In the dirty breeze

And after it rains
Theres a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
Its not that the colors arent there
Its just imagin-ation they lack
Everythings the same
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town

In my little town
I never meant nothin
I was just my fathers son
Saving my money
Dreaming of glory
Twitching like a finger
On the trigger of a gun
Leaving nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Repeat and fade:
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town

I remember that. Pretty much summed up my feelings when I graduated high school and moved away. At the time my small little town had a single red light - and it was one that blinked red in all four directions....

and then have walmart whine the internet is killing them, so they'll pack up and go.

How's that for community spirit?

Ulen, MN has a population of just over 500 people, and the only reason the town is still above water is because it's only 45 miles northeast of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area. housing prices are significantly cheaper in the rural areas surrounding Fargo then in Fargo itself, so people will live in the rural communities surrounding Fargo and then drive into Fargo for work.