problem is.. well i want to be able to talk politics and current events without ending up HATING my neighbors, just sayin'....
15
I know the exact place they should go -- Port Huron, MI. (And, yes, I have been there.)
They love Trump and his racist policies and his supporters racist chants and yet deny their racists. Go ahead and trust them diverse America.
6
The bottom of the article says the author works at Sarah Lawrence College, which is not rural. This article would pack more punch if it were written by someone who lives in a rural area.
16
Of course, the American Enterprise Institute is a right-leaning think tank so let's consider the source.
While most of us Democrats do not want to be defined by the farthest left of our party, the Republicans are being defined more and more by the farthest right of their party.
We watch Trump rallies and see the "F the media" shirts, hear "Send her back" chants and see only white faces in the crowd. We see white supremacist rallies, and a leader who tells people to "go back to where you came from."
Why would many highly educated Americans, many of whom go to school with all colors of people, want to spend their lives in less tolerant places?
16
It doesn't matter what any of you say unless you know about Alabama, first hand. Come on down! Just don't get sick or swim in certain rivers or need an abortion or trust politicians not to rip you off. Eight counties in Alabama have no hospital. I could go on but it makes me nauseous.
18
Really?!? Where I live, if you can get out--you get out. You should hear the far right conservative line from the local us representative, who wins by a landslide. You live here because it is all you can afford--cheap (sorta) is all its got.
8
It is such a pleasure to read the comments of someone who knows rural life.
A part of "resistance" involves mocking Red state inhabitants. A recent bit of what passes for humor in Blue circles is the observation, now a cliche, that the opioid crisis here in Central Appalachia is welcome for improving the US gene pool.
The shear nastiness amazes me. The things said about Appalachians, or Southerners, have the weight and viciousness of the racism I heard in my country town of the 1950s.
Today, you get busted if you talk this way about any race (except Russians), but it's quite acceptable for the poor white people of Appalachia, the South, or indeed the Midwest, and other Red regions.
Your article says something like "hey, give WV or KY or KS or OK a try". It is crucial and rare to say this.
The more those afraid of contamination by the Red States visit us, look around, and maybe chat with us in cafes and bars, the more they will realize that we really are civilized Americans.
Better yet, they may come to understand that our politics don't simply express straightforward racism, as the Blue myth goes, but the very different, brutal , economic lives we have led due to globalization.
Our country is divided almost exactly in half. From the Blue side, at least, the attitude is no prisoners. If we don't ease the hostilities, the logic is that we'll move toward something like civil war.
Your work is insightful. It can also save the country.
What a patriot!
57
@alyosha That's rich. I live in WV, too, and have for more than 25 years. I even live in the state capital, which offers more opportunity and diversity than most of the rest of the state. This place is every bit as backward, racist, wackily religious, gun hoarding, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-intellectual, paranoid and delusional as people in those evil blue states think. All they have to do is come here and visit some of those cafes and bars you tout, and it will be confirmed. The only reason I stay here is because it allows me the opportunity to get out into the woods, where the nearest Trumpian (see above: backward . . . delusional) neighbor is miles away.
175
@alyosha I have never, ever, heard anyone talk about the opioid crisis in rural America in a nasty way or joke about it "improving the gene pool"! Never. There is a crisis with opioids here too, there is a crisis all over this country and anyone who has seen the wreckage would never joke about something like that. People are too busy paying the bills and living their own lives to spend so much time trashing rural America.
50
@alyosha. Thank you for that excellent comment, I agree with it all. N.B., however, that although I think it is certainly true (from my several decades of experience) that “From the Blue side, at least, the attitude is no prisoners,” for me that attitude more appropriately describes Republican politics. Thanks again!!
~ “The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.” (Mark Twain)
16
I grew up in rural America...go ahead and dismiss it!
5
I don't remember how many resumes I sent out when I first graduated from college in 1980. It was a lot. Reagan was president and jobs were not like low hanging fruit. I sent to companies in Indiana, in Illinois, in California, and closer by in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. I did the same when I was unemployed in 1994, 1997, 2000, and now. I got very few responses then from companies in other states and it's the same now. I never really wanted to live in a metro area but that was and continues to be where the jobs are.
If rural areas want to revitalize themselves they do have to appeal to college graduates. It's not enough to have less expensive housing or great scenery. People need to feel welcomed and there have to be jobs and other "amenities". Yes, metro areas are becoming too expensive for most of us but the jobs in rural areas don't pay enough either. I don't know the answers. What I do know is this: our country is wasting an awful lot of people with the policies businesses are pursuing with respect to hiring, training, and so on.
10
Two main issues:
1) It's hard to find a job in a rural area that's not the particular one you come from. Maybe you can get in through a spouse, but recruiting people who don't already have ties to an area tends to be limited.
2) Finding a few like-minded friends isn't good enough. A lot of people, those who are gay or non-white or religious minorities, want to be sure that the state and local government won't be run by people keen on oppressing them. Cheap housing isn't enough to lure a married gay couple to a place where politicians campaign on breaking up their marriage.
19
And the most compelling reason of all: The absurdly low cost of living. Sure the salaries are lower, but the cost of living is far far lower still, resulting in much more buying power for things like homes. It might almost make tolerable the irony of people looking down their noses at you while they call YOU elite.
3
I was a small-town teenager in the late 70's. The locals chased and threatened me due to my dyed punk-rock hair. I moved to the Big City as fast as I could. Never looked back. Not interested in small towns, thank you very much.
19
I currently live in a town of 2000 in a rural area 90 miles from Nashville. It is, if possible, even more benighted than the small town of 2000 people in which I grew up in a rural part of the North, where our congressman commented that our leading export was high school graduates.
The public schools here are desperately underfunded, the job opportunities are scarce, LGBT people are run off when they come out, Warner Sallman's "Head of Christ" graces the library in one of the nearby public elementary schools ('round here, folks love the Second Amendment but aren't so keen on the First), and teachers (still) hit kids and call it discipline. Oh, and the high school band plays "Dixie" as the fight song.
Once in a great while a young person asks for advice, and the only advice I give is to run as fast as they can, as soon as they can, once they finish high school. Go far away--to get a degree at a four-year college, not the local community college; then onward to a city with diverse employment opportunities, diverse people, and diverse ideas. Go to a place where you can blaze your own trail. Run, and don't look back.
21
I love this article. It outlines the only way to fix our political system. Urbanites relocating to rural areas could fix the anti-democratic outcomes caused by the Senate and Electoral College. It would also mend the tribal divide, because rural communities would comet to like and trust the "urban elites," if they actually got to live near them. Political system fixed.
2
Cities are not homogeneous, but this is even more dramatically the case with rural communities. "College graduates" are not one-dimensional either, but are lumped together in this piece. I've met many people with college degrees in rural places who don't believe in evolution (even among professionals working in biological fields) but have never met such a person in the cities I've lived in. (Maybe I need to get out more!) Grinnell, Iowa and Ashland, Wisconsin are both rural communities that benefit from the offerings of fine liberal arts colleges. The little Montana and Idaho rural towns I grew up in, didn't (and don't) have anything like Sarah Lawrence College as a local (say within 200 miles) resource. I assume, because it is not mentioned in his essay, that Prof. Abrams hasn't lived in a rural community. What small towns without a college are you advising your political science majors to move to? There are many rural communities that are multi-faceted gems, but there are many more that ambitious young people are wise to avoid, unless they want to bravely, and in isolation, confront the sundry grim realities described in other readers' comments.
9
I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College before Professor Abrams started teaching there, but I find his advice perplexing, especially because Sarah Lawrence is located in Bronxville, NY, a 30-minute train ride from the city. If Professor Abrams feels that rural America for college graduates should be considered, maybe he should find a college somewhere in Rural America to teach first. Then, perhaps, his advice would have a bit more credence to it. As for me, I'll take Manhattan.
16
If your not originally from a certain rural location you will never be from a certain rural location. You will always be an outsider. I have lived in many rural areas because I like open spaces, but I am somewhat self contained and need few friends and acquaintances. When you actually spend time among rural inhabitants they are very unhappy and cruel to everyone, including each other. They also spend a lot of time assuring you they are not racist while they are discussing "those people".
18
These comments are horrifying. The hatred that city mice have for country mice is astounding. And the assumption that rural areas are racist is more than heartbreaking; and it's not true. Yes, there are close minded people that live in small towns, but it appears more live in the 'big' cities.
7
@Ma, a lot of “city mice” were former “country mice”—and they know exactly what they are talking about.
17
Moved from Austin, TX to rural VA three years ago; re-opening my eyes to challenging issues faced by rural Americans. POLITICS ASIDE:
Rural areas generally: have poorer quality schools, lower paid teachers, high percentages of unemployed and unemployable and more WORKING people in poverty. Zero public transportation, FEW opportunites for good paying jobs (i.e. $75,000+), areas with poor or non-existent internet and cell connectivity, many with no garbage pick up or recycling, dirt roads, strained social services, food deserts, shortages of affordable health- dental - daycare facilities and an average "working wage" of $9.50/hour.
Corporations who have relocated here, do so for 3 reasons: 1) an uneducated population to whom 2) they can pay significantly lower wages and 3) state/local politicians who will give away millions of their poor people's tax dollars to attract any kind of business to provide any kind of so-called employment. At least, that's my observation.
Many inequities could be addressed by bifurcat-ing the tax & regulation system. What's relevant in NYC is may punish Olean, NY! Relocating companies should pay $15/hour AND a 2% infrastructure tax each year (rural land is always cheaper).
Rural America will only thrive when employment opportunity & pay; connectivity & education; healthy food & healthcare is EQUAL to urban areas...that will take real political, corporate and social commitment.
25
Wow, I'm dismayed to see so many nasty, narrow-minded comments revealing deep-seated intolerance and prejudice against rural areas. Ten years ago I followed Dr. Abrams's advice and after graduate school took a job in small-town Wyoming (the least populated state in the country). As a democrat I was apprehensive about moving to a deeply red state--but soon found a warm community and made close friendships with folks across the political spectrum. It wasn't perfect (what place is?) but I loved the land and valued the opportunity to experience the nuances of the rural West. It's not such a crazy idea to encourage college graduates to give out-of-the-way places a chance.
8
It is so much fun to be with country folk! Unemployed Ag and Forestry majors make good drinking buddies and can keep a conversation about modern permaculture going for a good 45 minutes. The cow pastures are dotted with nuggets of gold. And all those poor old people who are stuck in their rent stabilized apartments are just dying to get out there into "nature" in the rural parts of America where the chickens run around uncooked. The funnest part is when folks start to talk about all the big city people coming out and buying up everything and running up the price of everything. Specially those Blackrock folks. Just buying up everything, that's worth buying.
3
Why is the assumption in these comments that rural areas=Midwest and the South? Many New England towns are liberal, and close to various cities, while offering a slower pace of life that is ideal for raising a family. I loved my ten years of urban living, but there came a day when I just needed to be around green spaces again. Being part of a close knit small town community is also a wonderful experience. And the city is forty minutes away if I need some excitement. I would love to see small towns create more quality jobs in the private sector, so that more people can enjoy this lifestyle (although it seems I am frequently meeting new transplants to the area who are happy to do just that).
9
@HD Sounds like a good balance, but more exurban than truly rural.
1
Come-on Dr Abrams. We dont have the survey or the sample methodology, but when you say a 5% difference against your view is minimal, but an 8% difference in your favor is significant your entire discussion is suspect. You dont even define rural? You don't.
A town of 25,000 might be rural, be so is one of 500. There are many progressive communities of less than 100,000, but many are regressive. It would be helpful if you gave legitimate guidance to selecting one from the other.
3
From the professor in Bronxville, NY
8
@Laidback In my comment I do mention that too.
Sorry, nice try but where are the supporting data in the article (or I missed them). SF Bay Area for example, if you look at the numbers, (and I started my career here and have seen it, experienced it) has some of the highest income mobility in the US (world?). That is, if you track people at the "individual" level over the course of their careers (not population level averages, medians, etc) they move up. Why? Combination of universities, businesses, infrastructure, broad range of available skillsets/workers, supporting services and "quality of life" (outdoors, arts, weather etc) create a combination that equals jobs across many levels. That is difficult to build from scratch, and guessing not going to happen in "no-tax, don't tread on me"" aging mindset rural areas.
3
I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. Despite the fact that we moved there when I was four years old and my parents lived there for 40 years, we were always considered outsiders because my parents had been born there.
I work remotely now and could live anywhere, but I would never consider moving to a small town. The people of my hometown can be very kind to strangers and cruel to locals whom they consider “other.” I last visited in 2012 and the roads were lined with signs that said “Americans Against Obama.” These are not my people.
As a lesbian in an interracial marriage, I don’t feel safe even driving through parts of rural America. If rural parts of the country are dying, perhaps it’s because small-mindedness and intolerance are less favored in our culture. And that’s a good thing.
24
I grew up in central PA. I think the money just isn't out there to support life. The economy and population there has nosedived since the seventies. 80's corporate greed wiped the livelihood of those towns off the face of the earth.
11
Wow. This negative diatribe about small towns really takes my breath away. I’d be interested in knowing how many, if any, of the detractors had ever lived in a small town for any length of time - a few years minimum. I grew up in a smallish West Texas town and was privileged to know plenty of interesting, talented, intelligent, and basically good people.
8
@Susan A. I have spent about 35 of my 50 years living in small towns, in three different states, and I'm afraid I concur with the majority here. I am glad that your experience has been a better one, and I hope that others have been so lucky as well.
7
@Susan A.
Do you truly have a hard time believing that there are a lot of people that have had negative experiences living in small town America? Do you think the "Send her back" crowd comes from a town that is friendly to new college grads?
13
As a dweller of a hip coastal city, I see the strain on housing, utilities, transportation infrastructure and the accompanying prices as these kids continue to flood in here seeking fulfillment in all aspects of their lives. The irony is that the more we pack them in here (and other hip cities), the more we guarantee a right-wing U.S. Senate.
This is not a sustainable path. The more young progressives pile in here seeking enlightened refuge, the more they empower the regime they claim to be running from. If they really want to meaningfuly change things in this country, maybe they should stay in their home state, invest in their work and communities, and vote.
17
Dear Dr. Abrams:
Although not a member of the age demographic you speak of in your Op/Ed, I wonder if the rural residents (86%, natch!) who rated their neighborhoods as excellent or good places to live know what it's like to actually live in an urban environment. That is, have those rural residents queried ever lived in one? My experience having grown up in rural-ish Waukesha Co., WI suggests they may not, and ask only the one relative they know (like me) who left, "How much rent do you pay there?" and then proceed to mentally rate their own situation as excellent based on that one piece of information (the coin-opposite of what we college graduates may be doing if we dismiss rural America--as the title of your piece suggests).
An "ideologically monolithic" anecdote: I was "back home" in October 2016. I was never so happy to pay my (you-know-you-could-buy-a-whole-house-in-WI-for-that!) rent when I got back to the Silicon Valley and didn't have to look at another Pence/Trump sign. ~cz
21
I would encourage Dr. Abrams to take a short field trip to Hudson, N.Y., which has become a bastion of progressive urbanites, and then go across the Hudson River to Greene County, whose people still feel, to a large extent, left behind by the new economy and antagonistic toward anything that smacks of taking away their guns and religion. There is probably an answer in microcosm of why the great chasm exists...but I could not advise my own son to move anywhere "small town" that didn't have a college in it.
9
I am not sure what Mr. Abrams considers "rural". Having lived in Texas most of my life, I have my own definition of it. Rural America exists in those places where there is absolutely no need for a college degree. It would be folly to get master's degree in economics only to squander all of that time and talent making change at a small town's one and only convenience store.
10
Most people in rural areas are decent hard-working people. However, it is difficult to ignore the stranglehold religion has on many rural communities. One of the first questions I asked when I briefly moved to rural PA was, "what religion are you?" As if that's anybody's business but mine! Spoiler: the word "atheist" will get you ostracized by "polite" neighbors as quickly as the grapevine communicates your heathen beliefs and/or you will be put on the hit list for the god botherers to assault you wherever you go.
My internet access was the worst I've ever encountered anywhere. I work mostly remotely, so that turned out to be a dealbreaker eventually. The town and its nearest neighbors rolled up at night. There was virtually nothing to do, unless you enjoy going to bars thick with desperation.
And while it rarely came to the surface, the casual racism is a bit of a turnoff if you happen to be a POC. So, no, I don't think college graduates will be running off to rural America anytime soon.
28
I am in Massachusetts on Cape Cod where quality non fiction tends to be library loan only. All the music is the same with a smattering of Irish and ho hum classical. Restaurants are heavily American and steak and chowder with a shortage of vegetarian. the jobs are relatively lower paying with fewer options. And that is in an northeastern state. Ok we have a beach except for the sharks.
No person starting out should come to a low job density place. Sad but true. I am working on going expat. Trains, good Internet, culture.
5
I am largely sympathetic to the run of comments in this thread. But as I read this one, I am reminded of the observation that some people would live in so rarified atmosphere as to suffocate.
2
I won't raise my children among Trump supporters. Rural areas, generally speaking, aren't an option.
13
I grew up in small Wisconsin town (pop 6,700). Left after high school and have lived happily in big cities ever since.
Rural areas do offer a small number of jobs for college graduates. The problem is you only get a handful of career options: teach at the local school, work in healthcare, or get a corporate job in a local small business (hard to do if you're not related to the owner). If you want to work in any other industry -- if you hold a degree in any other field, even a STEM field (like my degree) -- you are out of luck.
11
I left a small, rural town where I spent years as a religious minority. To really fit in there, you had to be an Evangelical Christian. You had to be ok with the Biology teacher skipping the section on evolution. Your dining choices consisted of Applebee’s and Chili’s. And the idea of raising kids there? Where most of their peers don’t even aspire to college? Where teen pregnancy rates and out of wedlock birth rates far outpace those in UMC parts of blue metro areas? Where boys have to risk their brains by playing football to be popular? Where the average ACT score is a 20? Nope. No, thanks.
20
I'd like to invite Dr Abrams to read this comments section and
thoughtfully go through all the points we've raised.
10
@BBB - This was a positioning paper/opinion by AEI. I really doubt Mr Abrams has any interesting in reading, let alone thoughtfully going through the comments and points raised here.
6
@BBB I am a graduate of Sarah Lawrence, which is located 30-minutes from New York City, where the students tend to stand out from the crowd. It's hard to imagine most students from Sarah Lawrence living in Rural America. They would, however, probably like to go to the outback for a visit.
3
@BBB, him and David Brooks and Ross Douthat—all of whom venerate a rural America that a) rarely exists, b) is somewhere they wouldn’t move to even if it did.
9
I'm a big rural America advocate but much of what commenters write is only too true. It wasn't always that way, as I remember when my home state had two Democratic U.S. senators and many other states had competitive political parties. Farther back, we need to remember that much of what is now called progressive came out of rural areas. The Grangers fought the monopolies; the Bank of North Dakota is state-owned; Nebraska has public power.
But there were always strong strains of conservatism, which have been successfully exploited by Republicans. Democrats, unfortunately, did not fight back effectively, so some of the responsibility can be placed on those in the Democratic party who have been ready and even eager to abandon rural America. The result is a dangerous and growing split between urban and rural.
The remedy is for Democrats to offer progressive rural policies and get competitive once again. They should be based around the production of healthy food to combat the nation's obesity and diabetes epidemics; the preservation of topsoil; the reorientation of the Farm Bill toward fighting climate change; the breakup of monopolies; saving rural hospitals and colleges; providing high-speed Internet. It can be done but it will take urban Democrats to see the political value in making it happen, but that does not seem likely from the comments posted on this forum.
17
I work in a community of 50,000 which is considered rural by many but big when you grow up in a town of 700. It's in a red state but with a vibrant arts community. Broadway actors and lyricist grew up here. Our community theater just won several national awards. The local performing arts theatre brings us amazing talent and is home to an incredible symphony. If you want to see acts in a bigger venue, Wichita and KC are fairly close. We host a 3-day arts festival in June that brings 60,000 people and draws artists and performers from all over the nation.
The University of Kansas Med School has a program here to help address the need for physicians in rural areas. Kansas State has an aviation program with numerous degree options. And we're not all that far from arguably one of the best places to watch college basketball in Allen Fieldhouse at KU. Rock Chalk! And one more thing - Adrianna Franch, goal keeper with the World Cup champion USWNT grew up here! There are rural areas that do
provide the opportunities for a well rounded life. It's a matter of finding what works for you. It's not always about money. Sometimes is about sunsets.
7
@Connie Hocking I'm not sure if 50,000 population is rural...
4
What about people with complex health needs, who may need to rely on expanded medicaid and other health services while they're getting started? What about women who need affordable reproductive healthcare options?
What about LGBT+ people who want a place who will accept them rather than deny them healthcare or human decency?
What about people of color who don't want to see a dozen Confederate flags on the way to work every morning, just as a warm-up for whatever the rest of the day may bring?
What about women who want to start a family someday who don't want to worry about dismal child and maternal mortality rates? Who don't want to worry about whether a miscarriage or a placental abruption will be a death sentence if they land in a backward hospital that considers saving a pregnant woman's life to be an evil abortion?
No, for the thousandth time, being anti-prejudice is not the real prejudice. Stop demanding that people tolerate intolerance.
20
Of course stereotypes in both directions are overly general, but they also hold much reality. Similarly, if these numbers had been broken down further they would be more informative, primarily between recent arrivals and longtime residents.
3
I think the issue with many of the survey the article is based on is that college graduates moving to rural areas are a self-selecting group, while moving to a city is seen the default option. Those living in rural areas would likely report being happier because they made a conscious decision to move to those places, while urbanites may be more likely to be following likely employment or cultural expectations.
To say that both groups felt in tune with those around them is hardly an argument against rural isolation, as being in tune with those around you is much easier when there are fewer people to be in tune with. The next statistic, on knowing one’s neighbors, should also come as no surprise. Jane Jacobs argued that a key benefit of city life is that one does not need to know their neighbors, as they can be more selective with who they decide to welcome into their lives and home.
The decision to stick with surveys rather than employment data for jobs also seems odd. Isn’t it likely that rural grads over-report job opportunities because they moved there for a job?
The last point also seems iffy because, again, moving to a rural area directly after college is a very deliberate choice that moving to a city. Our culture pushes young folk toward cities. The article calls this a common assumption. Those who chose to do otherwise likely have a reason.
When discussing surveys and polls, it’s important to remember that results are subject to the biases of the population surveyed.
5
The article isn't totally off base. Rural America is more politically diverse than costal liberals imagine (not that it results in many democrats being elected) and smaller cities would definitely benefit from more college graduates. The big sort has been bad for everyone.
I moved back to my hometown, one of those small midwestern cities, in my 40s to start a family after living in the Bay Area for 14 years. I think about 10,000 more college educated liberals from the coasts would really improve this place. It seems like the Chamber of Commerce and even the conservative legislators agree with me. All they talk about is "workforce development" and attracting talent for local companies. At the same time, they love the area's low wages and the legislators (more than the chamber) also embrace right wing social issues like the recent abortion ban.
They can't put two and two together. They don't realize that their great mission of the past 40 years of lowering taxes, services and wages while celebrating religious dogma has succeeded in keeping the educated, successful liberal away. Now they want that skilled worker, but aren't willing to change anything to get them. It's a competition for talent, folks. Our states have open borders and workers with resources are free to follow the money and their bliss.
28
A couple of years ago Prof. Abrams had a brief moment in the spotlight when he published an Op Ed in the NYT condemning not only all the liberal courses & conferences he hated at Sarah Lawrence (which then & now paid his salary) but insisted that the college was run by a cabal of liberal administrators and what the school needed was an "ideological alternative" model to give students a path to the truth.
When it turned out that Prof. Abrams had never actually sat in on any of the meetings he deplored, or that he himself couldn't suggest any "ideological alternative " model, he retreated to the safe right-wing cocoon of the American Enterprise Institute (an organization that believes the economy can be saved by the re-introduction of child labor.)
It's worth mentioning all this because Prof. Abrams has, like a gopher, resurfaced, this time to to sing the praises of all those places in America where a bright, curious & ambitious grad can happily settle and watch his brain turn to stale oatmeal. and his income shrink to nothing.
If you're a parent with a college-bound youngster who's considering Sarah Lawrence, keep in mind that among its graduates are Alice Walker, Meredith Monk, Vera Wang, Ann Patchett, J.J. Abrams and Julianna Margulies.
Or, if you think Prof. Abrams is on to something, you can suggest your child skip college altogether (thus avoiding all those toxic liberals) and head straight for Trumplandia.
21
@camorrista, _thank_ you. That explains a lot.
3
Who this article doesn't take into account are what I will call "moderately educated adults." Both my husband and I hold associate degrees. When we lived in a large urban area, we found it fairly easy to get interesting and remunerative jobs, but when we moved to rural Pennsylvania, the only jobs available to us were low-paying service positions. So back to the big city we go. Mid-level jobs like those we are suited for simply don't exist here.
20
It's very hard to find a partner when you live in a rural area. I would probably suggest checking out smaller cities, but I don't think I could recommend moving to the country for anyone who wants to be in a relationship.
12
Dr. Abrams manages to both cherry-pick his facts and claim evidence for things not stated in his own survey..
For example, Abrams claims that "educated urbanites were less satisfied than were those in rural areas — at 68 percent compared with 76 percent."
Community satisfaction was indeed asked of survey respondents, but the published survey only sorts by the demographic categories of age, race, income, and dwelling -- curiously not by education.
Having read the entire pdf survey (of which he is the lead author) that he linked to, I find no such data that supports that statement. There isn't, in fact, any sorting of educated people by urban/rural dwelling Ok, it's possible that the data were collected and then correlated in that way, but the authors chose not to include it in the published survey. But it sure makes the reader suspicious of that claim.
On the other hand, one of the biggest differences between urban and rural dwellers in the survey went unmentioned him here:
When asked about access to amenities, 44% of rural-dwellers rated it low; of the other 3 groups (large city, suburb, small town) a low rating was never given by more than 16% of its residents.
Maybe that is reason enough for educated millennials looking to thrive.
(I'm surely I'not the first to note that Mr. Abrams was educated entirely on the coasts. Ditto for all his past and his current jobs. Perhaps he's planning on taking his own advice -- just much later in life.)
16
That is a tough argument. This post is not an apples to apples argument here. I live in Houston and my parents live in a suburb of Houston 35 miles outside the city, so by no means rural. The difference between the two places is night and day. The job opportunity part is obvious(there is just no way the opportunities are the same), but the difference in thought between those 35 miles is astounding. In Houston for an R to win a mayoral election that pol would have to be an exceptional candidate with incredible name recognition. In my parent's suburb the bumper stickers you see about Hillary or Obama are just insane. The part of Texas they live in is all in religious conservative. Like I said to start this is not apples to apples, I'm comparing Houston to a suburb. The point I'll make is I don't even want to know how crazy it gets the further away you get from Houston(before you get to Austin or whatever other big city of course).
7
THis article brings to mind the need to hear more stories, more reporting from Fly-over country people. We need to hear their voices. Reporters?
And yes, I still believe in Flyover country...Kendizor in her book Flyover Country has it absolutely right.
4
This piece invites the question: who put this idea in the heads of these young people, anyway?
I've lived in large US coastal cities and in a number of regions in the interior of the country. I enjoyed each and found that all were what one made of them.
5
Everyone I know who went to college moved out of the small town I grew up in back in TN. Most of rural america barely has the internet, let alone enough employment to give any security if someone was fired or an employer just went under. Especially for young kids fresh out of college who are finding their way, options are incredibly limited in rural america. Have a partner with a specialized degree as well? Good luck finding two good jobs in a tiny area. Not to mention jobs in rural areas tend to pay less (lower cost of living) but that hardly helps with the crazy student loan debt a recent grad will have.
But yeah, not all rural areas are backwards on education and science, but most have too few employers and too little infrastructure (internet) to support workers remote or local. Try motivating employers to move to these areas or provide more remote opportunities.
10
As a highly educated and skilled immigrant of of color, I have realized that more than 1 in 2 people in a Trump voting state would prefer that I leave the country and would have no problem using violence to achieve that goal. Why on earth would I want to subject myself and my family to such risk? Since the 2016 election, we have done everything possible to avoid Trump voting states in any of our travels. Nowadays we mostly just go to Canada for vacations.
31
What should be added to this sales pitch is that, unlike SF, LA, or NY, young people can actually afford to live in smaller cities and rural areas. Check out places like Des Moines, St. Cloud, Springfield, IL, Rochester, one could go on. They are as diverse and cool as anywhere. The only difference is you can live in a house instead of a closet.
4
I was raised on a farm in a rural community and then managed towns, cities, and airports for nearly 40 years. The towns/cities were a mix of rural and suburban, some very diverse others minority majority.
Being retired now, my wife and I by choice have returned to a very rural community and live amongst good neighbors in a natural setting. I admire both liberal and conservative traits which I often observe in our town. I found the statistics in the story interesting and believe some focus group and interview work would further clarify.
The main story, however, is the comments and it appears a group of "liberal" folks have their doctrine of fixed-talking-points deploring the hinterland and its folk. Maybe they should open their minds and their hearts. They could grow through service, joining AmeriCorps and working in some rural community with live rural beings and hard work. It would expand their horizons. I believe their service would also ameliorate their constant hammering charges of rural bigotry and benightedness.
The actual big deterrent for many to a rural lifestyle is a lack of shopping and hyper retail opportunities and also having to drive 200 miles to catch a discounted commercial flight.
Truly, the life is not as glossy, but it is greener and brighter (and I believe friendlier) where I live.
8
The author teaches at a famously bohemian, ultra left-wing, very lgbt school that is less than 20 miles from the Empire State building. Grand Central terminal is two stops down the track. And the author suggests that other people move to the red hinterlands? As we used to say as children when we saw something or someone acting weirdly: "Sarah Lawrence."
9
@susan, heh. Elite Right-wing think-tankers love rhapsodizing about rural America. But when it comes to deigning to live there—well, do as they say, not as they do.
6
Part of what is hollowing out rural areas is a declining birth rate. Rural areas were largely built on agriculture and when people had 5 or 6 kids they were great places to grow up. Unfortunately is is difficult to split a farm or ranch 6 ways. The idyllic small town rural life that people write about was only sustainable for one or two generations at the most.
That being said, not everyone in a rural area is a uneducated close minded Trump supporter. To really survive in those areas without living off of government assistance you need some drive and smarts.
7
This is an interesting and thought-provoking piece. However, there is a problem with using individual surveys to measure how progressive or conservative regions are. The fact is that even though political diversity certainly exists in rural areas, the culture has become very conservative outside of some college towns, along with anomalous regions like Vermont and parts of the Upper Midwest. This means that while a progressive college graduate may find some fellow travelers in a community, he or she is also likely to find him or herself in an environment where mores and public expression may be much more conservative. In the vast majority of rural communities, the leaders are very conservative politicians, business people and clergy, who may actually be more to the right than the typical resident but who also set the tone for the local culture. Finally, why would young people (liberal, conservative or apolitical) who have not yet chosen a life partner want to move to places that have a much smaller pool of potential mates, especially college graduates?
6
"Ideological diversity exists in rural areas; there is no reason that liberal students could not find like-minded people in those communities."
The question isn't if I'd be the only liberal in town. The question is what laws are being passed on the state level to take away my right to control my own body. You couldn't pay me enough money to move to a state that's working to restrict abortion access-- at least not before I go through menopause.
13
@Lizbeth, as a woman, I’d be mighty concerned about how seriously local law enforcement takes crimes against women, like domestic violence and rape.
5
Really, Prof Abrams? Do you ever get away from the American Enterprise Institute, Bronxville and Manhattan long enough to actually spend time in rural areas? The jobs simply aren't there, especially in Trump country. Sure, the people there need health care facilities, but when your state turns down Medicare, hospitals can't afford to stay open. My daughter, a pediatrician and her stay home husband and father of three, would LOVE to have been able to buy land and have a rural practice. But hospitals in rural Oklahoma have closed up. They had to move to the burgeoning Dallas area for her to get a job. The traffic is fearsome, but a job is a job.
19
Instead of joining established rural communities, build some.
Include the ideals of what makes a good society. Plant those
forgotten "seeds" to save civilization and the planet.
I'm tired of everyone scratching their heads on how to build "affordable" housing. It's high time we talked & brainstormed about how to build affordable "villages"---complete with craftsmen, small shops, town squares, walkable streets, doctors who can make house calls, small schools teaching kids to be autodidacts, etc. Europe offers plenty of templates to do that.
7
Like many of the commenters who’ve experienced both environments, I too was surprised by the cheery picture of rural life painted by Mr. Abrams, until I finished the piece and saw that he is associated with the American Enterprise Institute.
Like so many right-leaning think tank analyses, this one begins with the conclusion that the author (and the think tank) wish to support and then go about building a hypothetical reality around it.
Ironically, many of the commenters did a far superior job of objectively laying out both the pros and cons of the two cases – urban v. rural – that any young person would be advised to heed before packing their bags for the “country life.”
19
Dr. Abrams, I moved from Manhattan to rural Ct. in 2008. I don't have a Phd., I don't teach political science at a prestigious university and I am not a visiting scholar but I know you have never lived in a rural town with a failing economy and plummeting real estate prices. There is not a dermatologist in a 50 mile radius taking new patients, there are countless empty stores and the stores that have tenants are either selling guns or vaping paraphernalia and the restaurants and bars are not on the cutting edge the culinary renaissance taking place in large urban communities. Real estate taxes can run as high as 7% of the realistic value of a house per year and the roads have pot holes so large you can lose a standard size sedan in one of them. You are doing a grave disservice giving advice to college graduates from your ivory tower in Bronxville, N.Y. based on a few questionable surveys.
29
@Michael Somers, that’s another thing. How are the public services in these areas? Low taxes and the Trumpers who support them generally equal rough roads, reduced libraries, and failing infrastructure.
5
@Michael Somers Hey, now. As much as I love to mock CT, Litchfield county is a gorgeous area: full of parks, vineyards, even art and good food if you know where to look. Plummeting Real Estate prices? Compared to where, NYC? This millennial can't afford a house in many of those towns (also because of the taxes, that I'll complain about all night long). The median income is solidly middle and upper middle class. Litchfield county is hardly a desolate wasteland, and since it's filling up with an annoying amount of city people, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
2
@Sarah
No place that is within the commutershed or summer-home radius of a large city can really be considered fully rural. That you consider Litchfield County, Conn. to be rural, however green and pastoral it may appear, is very amusing.
4
This is an easy pass when your criteria includes a Reform temple.
4
Check out Fairfield, Iowa. A once a month “art walk”, the David Lynch film school, art movie nights at the local contemporary art gallery, a number of organic restaurants, a cafe with live music almost every night, another cafe that’s also a bookstore, a pub with fresh ground beef burgers and scotch, an eco village, and tech start ups hiring, along with cheap housing, and easy to make friends.
5
Thanks to the Maharishi. I’m not sure that’s a scalable solution to rural economic desperation.
4
As others have said, it depends on your definition of "rural" and "small town". Something in-between and carefully positioned might be a good fit. Many college towns, for example. I currently live in the smallest town I've ever lived in--about 150,000 for the "metro" area. If I had to live only here, I would have left long ago. What keeps me here is that Houston and Austin with all of their art, theater, restaurants, shops, and two great airports are only about an hour and a half away. It could take you that long to get to Boston Logan if you live in Boston.
A day trip to the city is easy. The cost of living in my "small town" is lower, and traffic is more manageable. I'm also a role model for many aspiring, intelligent young women. My impact here is much greater than it would be in Cambridge, Berkeley, or Seattle.
One of the other things to consider is election politics--while my vote hasn't counted in a long time, Texas is slowly becoming more "blue", and my vote may very well count in the future. If we continue to concentrate in solid blue states, the electoral college will never swing our way.
8
um, don't you live like half an hour from midtown?
8
I would love to live in a place that has affordable housing, unclogged highways, and a slower pace of life. It's not the economics that's pushing me out of rural America, it's the lack of racial diversity. You argument does not apply to people of color. Nor do they apply to many other minorities. Why would we want to live in a place where more people are threatened by our existence?!
18
Mr. Abrams,
you give some encouraging statistics but I'm still a bit hesitant to exchange my fifth floor walkup for my reproductive rights and (in some places) 4x higher risk of firearm death. but you know, why don't you go to rural Louisiana first for a year or two and tell us how it goes...
28
This article reminds me of those "Great Places to Live/Retire/Telecommute/Be An Artist" lists that look at statistics instead of examining the quality of life in these towns.
I've lived everywhere. I don't recognize these neighborly, open-minded people that Dr Abrams interviewed. There are a multitude of reasons that rural areas have low populations and are likely to stay that way. Most residents in small conservative towns resist change. If jobs are scarce and wages low, it's because these towns are located in remote areas, lack transportation and other vital resources (like water) or because the two-class system works for the minority of wealthy citizens who thrive on cheap labor.
The town where I live now has a mild climate and the cost of living is pretty reasonable--and no state income tax, which means a regressive sales tax, even on food, and higher property taxes. It could be a great place to live. But newcomers and do-gooders who try to shake up the status quo meet total resistance from the aging white establishment.
So young people are moving away, replaced by retirees and conservatives from states where real estate is pricey. There are no jobs for young people (unless you're in the medical field). In its heyday, this town was a thriving tobacco producer but tobacco hasn't been replaced by other crops. By keeping wages low, city leaders are slowly starving this town instead of providing opportunities for working and middle class people to live here.
11
“The data shows they are not monolithic” and yet they vote monolithic, “that college-educated Americans living in rural areas feel they are meaningfully connected to their communities” but then how else could they feel? If they felt otherwise, they would move; “that these people are quite satisfied with their communities and the available professional opportunities, and are not looking to move away” but those that stay would say that, else they would move.
What the professor doesn’t say is that rural areas are becoming less and less populated, that most of the local kids who receive college education do indeed move away and that few if any college educated in rural areas went to Sarah Lawrence, George Mason, Stanford, or Harvard
One needs only look at the professor’s Facebook page and photos to see the high life of living in bigger cities and the reason educated folk go to bigger cities.
8
There are rural areas that seem to attract and keep a number of college educated millenials, but they tend to be rural areas with great natural beauty and a strong tourism industry. Many of the college educated end up working in the tourism industry, running fashionable restaurants or B&Bs. Or they are people in the arts who do their work in the rural area but still have ties to the gallery scene in NYC. Or they are writers or other people who don't have to work right where they live. There are also small colleges in rural areas, so obviously those areas attract professors and administrators with advanced degrees.
But outside of rural areas with tourism or colleges, I don't see a lot of opportunity or lifestyle choices for the college educated. Friends who have idealistically moved to rural Appalachia find they can never be part of the community unless they are evangelical, and it is hard to get around because of poor roads and long distances.
9
This article reminds me of the old TV show, “Green Acres”.
And it reminds me of the movie “Easy Rider”
4
"Leadership by example" is a redundant term, as there is no other kind of real leadership.
So, just move the headquarters of the American Enterprise Institute out of the absolute centre of Washington DC.
15
When the author talks about 'percentage of residents known their neighbors', I thought 'duh'. A major reason people want to live in big cities is the anonymity. I had a friend from Trinidad, who moved to NYC. I asked her why, because It was not, in her case, economic. She told me that in Trinidad, everyone was 'in everyone elses pocket'. In contrast, in NYC her business was her own.
13
@Jenifer Wolf, indeed. My mother misses many things about her rural hometown, but she doesn’t miss the incessant gossip and judgement.
8
A lot of people seem to disagree with this article, but I graduated from a small college in the Midwest and now work for a large company who happens to have their corporate location in a very rural area. My fiancé and I are buying a house in the area (closing next week, actually) which is something that a lot of graduates my age see as impossible for them after they move on to bigger cities. We could do it simply because we live in such a low cost of living area. Our mortgage may be even cheaper than some of the rentals around here.
But, some people are right about the social implications of living in a rural community. The area is largely white, though the company does employ a lot of foreigners (but they tend to commute from nearby cities). I personally have never faced any kind of discrimination as a woman, and I haven't really been around long enough to gauge the political climate but I'm guessing it's largely Republican. I have kind of mixed political views and I don't really know what to call myself so that doesn't really bother me.
There's also the whole - "But, there's nothing to do!" Argument, which completely confounds me as someone who has always lived in a rural area and have found plenty to do just by driving to nearby towns or cities. It may not be right down the street, but I've never been bored on a weekend. I don't think I could ever live in a city, or even a suburb. I enjoy the sleepy small town life too much.
Don't knock it till you try it, maybe?
8
It's not surprising that many young college graduates prefer the excitement of large cities, even at the cost of high rents and other costs. The exception seems to be smaller resort metropolitan areas like Myrtle Beach, SC. Sports enthusiasts like it because there is work to be had and the endless lure of the beach and rivers.
When I moved back to the area after college, job choices were pretty limited to education and social work. Few women got promoted to lucrative and responsible jobs in other industries. It is different now, of course. Perhaps that will help lure more people to rural areas.
3
Young, ambitious people owe it to themselves to experience urban culture. Just don't get yourself into a situation where you spend more time in a car getting to and from places than you do actually enjoying them. Ditto working so many hours that you're too tired and occupied to enjoy the reasons you're there in the first place.
2
Let's just say that it didn't work for my wife and I. We graduated from Lutheran Seminary and went to a church in the exurbs of Charlotte. Try as we might, we never succeeded in breaking down the trust barrier or the "not from here" barrier, even though my wife was born just a few hundred miles away in rural Tennessee. The members of our church community were, on the whole, suspicious of our educated perspectives on the Lutheran Church and on life itself. As an engineer and computer designer in my first career, I constantly struggled to explain my faith in ways that did not negate science to home school mothers who believed science was "of the devil." We lasted 6 years and then moved to a more urban area in Asheville.
21
I think you will find that self-labeled moderates in rural areas are much more conservatives than self-labeled moderates in urban areas, and vice versa for liberals. Personally, while I find small towns to be cute and fun places to visit, I find them to be excessively dull places to live.
8
The point of this article is based on the opinions of the individuals living respectively in the respective communities. The views of the people within their own communities is subject to a tendency toward self (and community) adulation, rather than a more objective notion of what comprises the ethos of the community. This article also does not address what, in my experience growing up biracial in small college towns in the south and midwest, is the most oppressive influence - that of traditional masculinity. This sense of male entitlement and (over)empowerment underwrites racism, homophobia, misogyny and a host of other ills to which small towns are more subject than cities. Mr. Abrams underwrites his pie in the sky notion of rural America with rural America's self-congratulatory notion of itself. In the towns I grew up in, there were no racists, no sexists, no homophobes. But somehow kids (and adults) of color, LGBTQ folks, and females who did not tilt toward passive, submissive notions of themselves were outsiders to the social milieu - consistently. This took the forms of ridicule and violence. This remains true, and our current president's appeal in rural America is confirmation that, though a few decades have passed since I left rural America, these things have not changed. Nobody is going to say they are bigoted, or misogynist, or homophobic - not on a survey, at any rate. This article doesn't fail on the merits of argument. It fails in terms of truth.
21
Is this article a straw-man argument? Big cities are where you can find more opportunities in a small amount of space, because there are more people! And you're more flexible because you can work in alot of different places without having to move your residence. And there are usually more cultural options in a small area. Cities have those advantages.
I don't think a truly intelligent person would assume there are no professional, social or cultutal opportunities in rural areas. It would just take more looking, and you might have to move a few times. And one undoubted upside is ... nature! (At least for the time being.)
5
I have friends who are doctors who practice in rural areas in Deep South -- and often commute 90 minutes each way because they would not dream of subjecting their children to the mediocre school systems, the lack of diversity in ethnicity, religion and worldviews in general and the lack of opportunities for cultural enrichment. So their families live in suburbs of large cities like Atlanta and Nashville and Birmingham.
13
@Sen
There were times when I drove 600 miles per week. As a recently retired academic physician, I know many people who do exactly this. They are dedicated to serving families and patients in desperate need of care, but are unwilling to subject their own families to the circumstances under which those people live. In some ways they almost have to live a double life, in order to be accepted as regular visitors to a community in which they are not a part. But they do so.
What the commuting docs do is a blessing, but no solution to the greater problems of rural healthcare. I have always had to tell my students and residents that these problems cannot be solved by the healthcare system alone.
I grew up in a rural area, and despite my sympathy and admiration for the people who live there, I could not have moved back. Assuredly, there are rural communities that are socially tolerant, culturally rich, and economically productive. But it may take a lot of effort to find them.
I miss the sunrise and sunsets over open fields. Sometimes I am discouraged by the even moderate traffic and congestion where I have been living. In some small ways, I too have had to live a double life.But it had to be.
5
When I graduated I sent off resumes to places in large cities. Eventually I was forced to take a job in a very small town in a very remote area. I had the best three years of my life. I did leave, though, to be closer to family. However, since I had enjoyed myself so much I took a job in a small but slightly larger town that was close to a largish city. Somehow I thought I would have the same experience. But this city proved to be rather different. There was an insularity present that, surprisingly, had not been present in the more remote location. In retrospect it made sense - the remote location was forced to hire people from all over the country. It was actually very easy to make friends there, with transplants and with locals. There were cultural events - some of the most amazing concerts I have ever attended took place in that location. In contrast, the thinking in the second place was - go to the city if you want to see a concert.
It is very important to really learn about a prospective community. So much information is available now, but check your information carefully. If there is a college take a careful look - programs, exhibits, community classes, events. It does not matter if you plan to take the classes or attend events. You are looking for something deeper. If your prospective community has a college of any size and there is no art program - run. Look at past exhibits and presentations. And check the grocery stores.
9
Increasing urbanization is not a a blip: it is a long-term trend that will continue for decades. Obviously there are significant implications for nearly all facets of life in the US, but don't get seduced by television shows and magazines which have stories about the "rural" revival. This meme is generally driven by people who *already* have enough money to move where they want, buy the housing they want, and may or may not need to work at all. This status does not apply to most Americans.
The non-1% need to work and make the most money they can, and live in locations that offer the most resources. That would be urban areas. Job growth, education, benefits, cultural and recreational resources are all part of the picture.
We have no intention to moving to a rural area while putting three children through school (one in college now). Most Americans need a good double income just to make it.
9
“Rural” is subject to interpretation. If you can drive to an MSA with over a million people in 45 minutes in moderate traffic (commuting distance) I do not consider it rural. If you have a college or University over 5,000 students, I don’t call that rural. It may not be “urban” but it is not rural.
I measure “rural” as the number of NON-farm jobs that pay over 50k a year in a town or region...the fewer jobs that pay over 50k, the more rural you are. Pretty simple to see why millennials won’t move there, when that is your metric.
8
OTOH, there are millions of Americans who believe "rural" begins one block from the last station on the subway line."out there" lies a land of self-satisfied holy rollers and Klansmen, none of whom has any interest in fine art and considers Dolly Parton to be classical music.pretty much everyone is white and suspicious if not convinced everyone not just like themselves is not really an American. red ballcaps are popular. most people are elderly, there are few children, and almost nobody between the ages of 18 and 65 is there on a voluntary basis. life in the rural boonies revolves around church,,and if you're not the church type, oy vey. and forget about your favorite foods unless you have a passion for franchise fast fooderies. and several more blocks past the last subway stop, things devolve even further. sprinkled among these places time has passed by are magical enclaves boasting art colonies and natural wonders, but most require a visa of some sort, usually money, which cannot be earned locally.
4
As Abrams is funded by the American Enterprise Institute, I can only assume that Corporations have realized that they will need warm bodies in the next few years to populate, procreate, and provide labor in the areas highlighted in his article.
9
Urban liberals refuse to recognize their complicity in how the country has moved Right. I'm old enough to remember when what are now deep Red States once elected real progressives like George McGovern, Frank Church and Fred Harris, among many others. What happened?
The missing discussion is de-industrialization and the collapse of union density, which urban liberals have fattened off of, and which they are largely indifferent to, if not supportive of. Literally and symbolically, let's look no further than Bill and Hillary Clinton, who crossed a picket line on their first date.
Union members vote more progressively than their non-unionized peers, and as self-financing working class organizations that improve living standards for working people, they inherently promote social justice. But unions and labor struggles are the history that dare not speak its name, especially among virtue-signalling urban McResistance TM liberals who attend demonstrations with signs that read, "If Hillary had Been Elected I'd Be At Brunch Right Now."
Yeah, that'll get rid of Trumpismo, fer sure.
For contemporary urban liberals, as long as the people who conduct Forever Wars, deny medical coverage, foreclose on homes amid trillion dollar bank bailouts, etc. meet some fatuous "Colors of Benetton" image of multiculturalism, everything is apparently cool. Their response to the crisis in the rest of the country is quite simple, and illiberal: Re-train. Move. Die.
4
Interesting but drastically incorrect analysis. Since Reagan, rural America has been duped by the "less taxes" mantra of the GOP. Somehow, those tax cuts never resulted in better schools, better roads, better jobs, better access to healthcare, or any of the promises, both real and implied, that Republicans made to middle America. But middle America has voted GOP for 50 years without seeing those improvements. They only got anything - higher minimum wage, access to healthcare, workplace protection - when Democrats were elected her to their objections. Meanwhile, Republicans sent their jobs overseas for cheap labor, demonized and destroyed their unions, and cut funds for their education, infrastructure, and recreation so the already wealthy could have ridiculously lower taxes. Still, they slavishly vote conservative in spite of it all. Blaming the Democrats and the Clintons for turning their backs on American worker's in revisionist history. The gullible workers fell for the Reagan big lie, reinforced by the constant beat of Fox News lies from virtually every TV in rural America. And in spite every broken GOP promise, every dollar cut from their services, towns, schools and roads, they have reliably voted for their own demise consistently. Trump was the last straw. I have no sympathy for them, their dying towns, their backwards and intrusive religious beliefs, and their senseless politics.
16
@wcdevins
You're right, those mean Republicans were solely responsible for passing NAFTA, and the Democrats thankfully have fought tooth and nail to rescind it and other trade deals... along with their courageous fights against other parts of the Republican agenda.
Oh, wait!
I'm not trying to rationalize the the delusions and frequent bigotry of Republican/Trump voters, but you are confusing Cause with Effect, especially in the case of the once-heavily unionized states that actually gave Trump the election. You are also ignoring the fact that, Con though it was, Trump was the Peace candidate in 2016,and his critique of neoliberal trade deals exemplified by the Clinton/Obama/Donor Class wing of the Democratic Party resonated with people, and understandably so.
But please, go ahead thinking that huge swaths of the country can be disrespected, relegated to bi-partisan supported resource extraction colonies and written off for decades without toxic consequences, which your comment is a pertinent example of.
Yeah, that'll cure the illin'...
2
One more thing. Watch out when "huge deaths of the country" realize they are in the majority but due to GOP gerrymandering, voter suppression, court packing, and Russian cooperation the minority is "winning" elections and setting backwards policy. Having had a minority-elected president twice in the last five elections is about all we can stand. One more and you'd better head for the barricades.
2
After completing college I worked in a rural part of Washington. The arguments you make here are the arguments you heard the "locals" making 35 years ago. Some stayed but many more left because they simply needed to experience something else. They did not want to stay among the same people the grew with. They wanted to tested themselves and saw no test at all in staying. No test of what could be possible.
Unless or until rural America offers something more than tranquility (and everyone knowing your business), educated professionals will seek the professional opportunities that simply do not exist in small town America. They did not 35 years ago and they continue that trend 35 years later.
6
A major deterrent to rural living is lack of high speed internet.
11
"A visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute". That says it all.
12
If the educated are feeling connected to their communities while living in rural areas, then they likely share other things with them like religious beliefs. Educated people can be religious.
1
Educated young people in certain fields with certain skills can make a good living in small to medium-size towns where the cost of housing and land is much lower compared to urban areas. If you are a career fit, there are federal government jobs all over the map, for example. There are certainly small business opportunities everywhere too. You can find a niche. But it comes down to what kind of life you want to live outside work, what your social needs are and how involved with your extended family you want to be. There are trade-offs to every choice. But, yes, young grads should definitely consider "staying home" if they were raised in rural or non-urban communities.
3
I live in what was a few years ago called "the best little town in America" by the Smithsonian Magazine. We are near to Jacob's Pillow, Shakespeare and Company, The Mahaiwe Performing Arts center, and more. Exotic restaurants abound here, we have an organic Moroccan Cafe. We do need more Doctors, as some of the better ones are retiring. Maybe some of you College kids would like to consider that? We have several very good Hospitals in and around us as well. I forgot to mention The extraordinary food markets locally which are abundant with gluten free, vegan, and farm fresh organic offerings. Make no assumptions...I grew up in NYC and this is so much less stressful and fun!Come visit Western MA; we rock! (good schools, too!)
10
This has to be one of the NYTimes' shallowest opinion pieces. I hope Dr Abrams' depth of critical thinking and insights are not typical of Sarah Lawrence. Both institutions should be embarrassed by this spun-sugar article.
11
Utter nonsense.
7
Rural areas are losing their hospitals and healthcare providers. Who wants to drive two hours to the nearest clinic? Anyone contemplating such a move, should first Google health care providers in the area.
13
@Just paying attention
And don't forget abortion providers.
7
As someone who graduated last May, I feel like I can add some perspective. I'm from a small town of 3000 in Connecticut. It's rural, but New England rural: a quaint, picturesque town that tourists flock to so they can see the fall foliage and take in the rustic feel. My family has lived in the town for several generations, but unfortunately I don't see myself living here now or in the future.
Why is that? Because the town is not for working families anymore, least of all young people. If you don't work at the "elite" prep school, then there's fat chance of wanting to live here when you're a twentysomething. The town has basically become a playground for tourists from the city and the site of a transient population of prep-school students. Even old people I know question why a young person would want to live here.
It may not be "fly-over" country, but it shows you that even in rural communities that could be desirable to young people are far away from actually being so.
4
The AEI is an organization that publishes studies that regularly prove to be flawed in design and approach.
The ethical lapses associated with its funding only make news on occasion but the real reason to ignore anything published is reflected via the AEI about page.
AEI is not concerned about creating and spreading knowledge through science and scholarship because the belief statement below provides the answer for every question in addition to screening out any researchers that do not have the same beliefs.
“The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.”
7
Do you have demonstrable examples or are you just slandering?
3
Their mission statement is the slander. They admit they skew their results to match their policy beliefs. I suggest you look up the ultra-conservative AEI if you don't know what they really stand for. Their anti-union, anti-worker policies helped hollow out middle America.
8
Plenty of sources. Do yourself a favor and do some research on your own.
2
Since the author's report of the AEI study seems to have omitted the most relevant information (Was it even sought as part of the study?), I will take the liberty of inserting it here:
"Highly educated (white, Protestant, heterosexual) rural residents...reported high levels of satisfaction with their communities."
14
Best quality of life I've seen: small college towns. Affordable homes, proximity to nature, relaxed atmosphere, vibrant and diverse cultural/arts scene and intellectual stimulation. Rural towns that are county seats seem to be doing well, too, perhaps not as culturally rich as college towns, but solid financially.
12
@gw You nailed it. Such a town is where I'm headed for retirement.
3
@gw, agreed. The best of both worlds.
1
This OpEd is pathetic. It's practically begging people to stop making fun of the fly over states for being so backwards. It's sad how quickly so called conservatives have turned on the free market when the free market decided they weren't worth buying.
8
This article is based on a survey conducted by the American Enterprise Institute. A “conservative” think tank. Why would anybody make a life decision based on a recommendation from the AEI? They have an axe to grind in everything they do. Sorry AEI, you’re as fair and balanced as Fox News.
11
Have you ever been one who passes for being a white christian conservative in such an area and walks in on a hateful diatribe against your group?
You are faced with the quandary, to announce yourself and perhaps get an apology, (we didn't mean you, why you don't even look or act like one of them) and perhaps later have an act of violence against your property.
Or to say nothing.
Be aware of hateful people with too much liquid courage that have firearms, black powder, accelerants, and matches available.
10
The author is a white male with a doctorate degree from Harvard and teaches in NYC. Obviously, theres no credibility issue in extolling the virtues of rural living. Just to prove this, I welcome and challenge him to take up residence in a rural community purely for his own benefit in the interest of wishing him to enjoy his stated personal paradise.
15
This is just typical right wing propaganda from the American Enterprise Institute. The economic opportunities are limited in small cities, although to be sure there are always the exceptions to the rule. Don't kid yourself.
8
When the author of this piece walks down Main Street of the kind of little, rural town he’s promoting does he hold his husband’s hand?
8
Samuel J. Abrams wrote: "I recently analyzed the data from a nationwide survey on community and society conducted by the American Enterprise Institute."
^ I do not know any reputable politician scientist at the Top 10 universities who would have accepted this survey at face value. Most would have noted AEI is not an unbiased source on this particular subject.
"Samuel J. Abrams is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute."
^ Oh-h-h-h.
13
@Sándor
Exactly. And the NYTimes doesn't know this?!
4
Rural America. You mean the place with the guns?
8
Between such bleak depictions of American rural life as “Dreamland,” “Educated,” “Dopesick” and “Hillbilly Elegy,” on the one hand, and the “send-them-back” chanting Trump supporters that spring therefrom, on the other, what’s not to like?
13
Hmmmm... no. No way, as a matter of fact.
4
If enough people followed your suggestion, they could flip Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, and the Dakotas in the 2024 election.
Might be worth a shot...
3
I quit reading after the author cited the American Enterprise Institute, as if AEI data is reliable
7
Who writes this drivel?
People go where the jobs are (for the most part) or where they think the jobs are, which tends to be cities
Unless they are farmers or have a job that works in a rural setting (that cant be done remotely - PD, FD, Teaching, medicine, etc.)
What is the next article going to be, begging FB, Alphabet or Amazon to move to the sticks?
5
Blah. Rural America is Trump country. Can you imagine living with people who so casually were willing to accept his lying, cheating, thieving and racism? Also, it is lousy place a to live if one is not white, Christian and straight - an experience reported back by everyone I know who’s had to spend time outside an MSA. Rural America is loosing its young people for good reasons, particularly a general refusal to accept that the world and people have changed
9
Yes, move to beautiful rural GOP-world, educated and enlightened small-town Americans. Kind, honest, caring conservative brainwashers like The American Enterprise Institute want to convert you to their dark side. Only whites need apply.
6
I grew up in rural America and with the exception of college and graduate school spent most of my life living there and working to make it better for its residents. Until November 2016. By January 2017, I was packing my bags and leaving. Rural Wisconsin is more interested in nursing racism and resentment than doing the things necessary to improve life there. There is no support for education, a clean environment or infrastructure. Instead, all you hear is complaining and resentment directed at urban areas and people with darker complected skin. There is a reason rural Wisconsin and rural America are dying. Bright, articulate progressive people don't want to live in an area full of grumpy, racist old people, with no amenities. There are beautiful parts of rural America, but you can visit for the weekend. The old saying that the countryside is wasted on the countryfolk really is true.
21
Being a retiree living in Appalachian Kentucky, I am bemused by some of the comments. I have traveled a bit and lived overseas in my career. I appreciate the desire of young people to be where the action is, the night life. When you are up to your neck in developing a career, usually putting in far more than forty hours a week, how much leisure time do you really have? Yes we do lack some of the diversity of restaurants and other entertainment. But, do dine out and have entertainment available. When the urge strikes we travel to several different metropolitan areas to enjoy what they have to offer. Usually four or five days is enough to satiate our urges and we are ready to go back home. When home we enjoy the rural scenery and less congested roadways. We can drive a few miles and see Elk and Deer grazing after a meal at a favorite restaurant. Our living costs and taxes are reasonable. Explore a little, get off the interstate. You might be surprised by what you find.
4
Sam Abrams -
Harvard, Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Stanford, New York, Washington, Cambridge - Doesn't appear that he took his own advice.
I'm skeptical of the validity and interpretation of the 'survey' given that the American Enterprise Institute has an obvious agenda.
8
Having been raised partly in rural areas, I might have happily relocated had the following issues been possible:
1. my husband and I could both get good paying jobs
2. I didn't need to drive long distances to get everywhere all the time
3. there were prospects for reemployment if there were layoffs or my employer shut down
4. my husband was willing to learn how to hunt
5. Our children would be able to get a good education in public schools
6. I could continue my education at a state university
In other words, if a rural area could provide these things, I might have been tempted to stay in rural areas. They are critical for financial survival. Friends who remained in rural areas either lived in poverty or have moved around and experienced long stretches of unemployment.
My brother manages to live his best life in a rural area - of Canada. His wife runs her own business, with subsidy from the province. He drives 85km each way to work. There are educational opportunities for him and his step children. This isn't the norm in the US.
10
Why would people chose areas without many ethnic restaurants and easy access to services? Education is commonly sub-standard and in my experience, one is always an outsider in small communities even though they might be surficially friendly. Where are the theaters, museums, etc that so enrich our lives? Where would I purchase groceries other than standard grocery fare? What about the general resistance of rural folk to change? Time moves forward,never stagnant or back. I think smaller cities of say a million are a good compromise.
73
@the doc
As a 50 year Tucsonan, I took the plunge and went rural 2 years ago. Life is so much easier here. Yes, I remain an outsider, but I was more of an outsider in the suburb of Oro Valley than I am here.
The theaters, museums and the University that have so enriched my life cost an extra 45 minutes in and out. Compare that to the 90 minutes I lost everyday commuting. It's pretty easy and vastly less expensive to learn how pace life around monthly supply runs. Even if the enduring the traffic around these supply runs is now torture.
Education here ranks equivalent to the most affluent school system in the basin, so that really is not much of a concern.
It all boils down to practicality. When the market forces hit the wallet, my neighbors tend to be actually rather quickly convinced to change.
9
@Doug Gann I think you've touched on an important point here. It's a luxury now to live out in the boonies, to be able to travel to town in a reasonable amount of time, have ample funds to keep your supplies up, and a comfortable place to reside. It's nice to get out of the city traffic and noise and crime, but for kids just getting out of college, it's just not an option.
16
@the doc
You can find what you are looking for in any college town in America. It's really as simple as that.
5
The statistics make things look better than they really are. Take away the rural areas around big cities and the rural retreats for urbanites like the Catskills, Shennandoah Valley, Northern California and parts of Oregon and see what things look like. I grew up in a rural area where 94% voted for Goldwater, most had guns and the KKK was present. The American Dream.
7
Let's do the math: young educated liberal seeks same for relationship in small town. Say 10% of population is reasonably compatible in age, half are opposite gender, and 20% share political views. That makes for a total of ten possible matches per thousand people, even before you filter for comparable education or marital status. And only one if you are LGBT+.
Pretty thin dating pool.
9
This piece reeks of white and straight privilege. No educated queer person is going to move to the middle of nowhere. I think I speak for many queer educated people when I say this. My black friends have talked about this with me. They also say no way to this prospect. We laugh at how some folks say they could move to the south -- we don't feel we'd feel safe doing so. That's privilege. People who have never faced discrimination don't realize that many urban centers are full of "American refugees" fleeing homophobia and racism. A lot of us prefer a slower pace of life and love the country, but have to put economics first. Urban centers hire us.
15
Hey, Dr. Abrams: Museums, cafes, galleries, independent bookstores, quirky shops owned by humans rather than corps., restaurants, theater, art-house cinemas -- and lots of other people who also like/want that stuff. Cities have that. Red-state towns don't.
You're talking out of your conservative-think-tank bottom. And if you think that red states are teeming with people who welcome the artsy-fartsy, the eccentric, the granola-heads, etc., then you haven't done your homework.
9
That works until you want to retire and you find your choices after living on a pathetic rural salary are work until you drop or live off catfood and your $1200/month social security check. That's because low COL areas also have low wages.
Meanwhile your college buddies that moved to DC and worked 30 years averaging six figures go into semi retirement at 55 and move next door to you in your rural community. However, they make more consulting than you do at your full time job. And after selling their 600k condo they pay cash for their new fancy house, they buy a vacation property in Mexico and spend two months a year slurping Pina coladas in the sun while you work yourself to death at age 60 hoping to God you don't lose your job and healthcare. Meanwhile they managed to save an extra 400k in their 401ks which allow them to delay taking social security until 70 at which point they make almost 3 grand a month each plus some money from other investments. Meanwhile you've burned through all your savings and are living hand to mouth. You lose your house and end up living in a trailer.
And of course while you watched friends reruns on Netflix over and over guzzling Budweiser they were eating fancy sushi and going to the opera. Unlike you 3 of their closest friends aren't hooked on Oxycontin either as they all lived more fulfilling interesting and healthy lives.
16
@Snake6390: you are making some crazy assumptions here. For example, that "everyone in a big city makes six figures" -- provably untrue.
Or that everyone in a rural area is making chump change. My stepson -- in a VERY rural part of Nebraska -- makes $180,000 a year as a nuclear operator at the power plant.
Also, I see no evidence that most or all urban workers retire early (and somehow, postpone SS until 70? because they are "consultants"? with what health insurance until 65?)
Three grand a month won't make a dent in Big Blue City rents, which can easily top $6500 a month. Plus huge taxes!
Your sneering contempt is based on absolutely nothing. Also, there is plenty of addiction problems in Big Blue cities, and it is no longer true it is solely a problem in rural areas. (Also, if you read Sam Quinone's excellent "Dreamland"....the Mexican cartels very deliberately first TARGETED rural America, smaller towns and white victims.)
Lastly: not everyone likes opera or sushi all that much, and all the urbanites I know watch Netflix and Hulu literally ALL THE TIME....and Budweiser is pretty much drunk everywhere, yes even in Big Blue cities.
It's this kind of spite and contempt that lost you the election, Snake.
@Concerned Citizen Well put. There is certainly a great deal of "sneering contempt" among these special, highly cultured humans. Money goes a lot further in the country and taxes are much lower, you pay less for a higher quality of life.
My friend, Melvin Rich, always said a dollar saved is two dollars earned.
Recently I accompanied a friend back to the place she grew up in rural Ohio. It was a shell of its former self, ravaged by drugs, completely white, and for the most part old, sick, and poor. Of course, the town overwhelmingly voted for Trump.
I used to have compassion for people who live in places like that but after Trump's election, they deserve what they get: Cuts in health care, closing hospitals, worsening of air and water quality, etc. I hope their ignorant, racist white spite makes it worth it to them. For my part, I really don't care; do you?
14
are you serious with this artlcle. would i really want to live in places that repress women's opportunities? try again
10
Seems to me that a professor at one of the most expensive, private liberal arts colleges in the country, a college located in NYC no less, should put his money where his mouth is.
It’s hard to take the professor seriously while he hides away in an ivory tower.
11
I had to stop reading after the second paragraph. Sometimes, conventional wisdom is...correct. Been there, lived there, seen that.
5
Good luck with that if you're not white, or if you're a woman who wants to retain sovereignty over her own body, or if you'd rather not spend half your life in your car.
11
Good luck finding quality, specialized heathcare in a rural area.
And the situation will get exponentially worse if Trump and his crone Republican collaborators finnish off Obamacare & Medicaid.
9
That is some good comedy.
8
"You don’t have to live in a big city to succeed economically and socially."
Uh, yes, you do.
16
Ideological diversity as in not everyone wants to send me back? No thanks.
9
I couldn't stop laughing over this one. Really? Is the author high on something?
I grew up in exurbia in the South, but my extended family live in the true country. As other commenters have noted, in those days the relatives in the countryside were merely conservative. They were actually reasonable. Now they are empowered, and armed, Trump-supporting racists. There is no way anyone who does not share their values would want to live there. No black people. No hispanics. No Indians. No gays. No Asians. No Democrats. No Jews. No college education (from a real university anyway).
16
This guy teaches in New York, NY!
It reminds me of "Changes is good. You go first..."
10
It is interesting that out of all the metrics the author brings up to support the "give rural a chance" claim, not included is the 25 percent gap in college graduate income levels between urban and rural areas. Despite the neverending attempts to pathologize citydwellers, the simple fact is that the decision to live in cities is in no small part an economic one. (Forget optimism about how much you'll make - how much are you actually making?) If you use these metrics, rural counties don't have a chance.
3
@Jonathan: the problem is that extremely expensive urban housing eats up that 25% -- and much more.
Even well-paid degreed professionals in Big Blue cities are often pay 50-70% of their take home pay in rent.
This article leaves one big question for readers who pay attention: what are the AGES of educated rural people vs. the ages of educated urban people answering these polls? There is a huge difference of a 65-year-old person with a college degree living in a rural area answering questions about lifestyle in that area vs. a 24-yr.-old person answering that same question in that same area. So .. once again the numbers can be manipulated to sound a certain way, or to support a certain idea. I know and work with a ton of college-educated older people (60+) who are full-on conservative/Trump supporters and who think almost literally 180 degrees from my other, younger (30 and under) college-educated colleagues. The same question being asked of these 2 age groups yields completely different answers.
3
This article makes no sense without delineating just what Abrams means by rural. Any city smaller than Nashville? It makes a big difference. There are numerous small cities in most states where educated and more liberal or moderate graduates could find community and economic success. I live near one, Traverse City MI. But I also live near to any number of smaller cities and towns that are economically barren and those same graduates would sterile and ostracizing. This survey appears pretty useless.
9
A lot of people are getting away from driving. Rural areas require not just a car but a backup driver when yours is in the shop.
6
Rural areas are many things, but dynamic they are not
7
I live in a hamlet of about 300 people (don't let the "Poughkeepsie" in my byline fool you). I'm surprised by how many respondents mention conservative politics as a reason for not wantint to live in a rural area or small town. There are MAGA hats and "Repeal the SAFE Act" signs here, but I don't think of the people displaying those things as "bad" people - I think of them as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, volunteer firefighters, youth athletic coaches, people who keep their churches going, turn out for community emergencies, do yard work for shut-ins, and check on the elderly to make sure they're okay. In short, I think of them as friends and neighbors, and they think of me the same way.
1
@djl
Oh? And what do your "friends" think of your gay daughter? Or your adopted child of color? Your black wife? Or of the probably undocumented, extremely hardworking laborers you and your "friends" employ (illegally) at depression wages? And you don't mind these "good" Christians shouting "Send Her Back," because you either agree with them, you're too fearful to chastise them, or it doesn't really matter because "we got no jihadists here anyway."
7
@djl I judge people by the company they keep. I wouldn't want to be friends with anyone who thinks keeping kids in cages is okay, or thinks that someone who brags about sexual assault should be president, or thinks that people of color should go back where they came from, or who thinks gay people shouldn't have all the same rights as straight people, or who thinks that women don't deserve the rights to control their own body.
5
@djl, ha. People put on their best faces until they feel threatened or angry. Try doing something that your friends and neighbors think is against their grain, and see how nice they stay.
4
I grew up in the country but as soon as I got some real education I moved to the city and never really looked back.
This article is a good example of how silly / stupid data can make you. Perhaps Dr. Abrams really doesn't understand the difference between urban and rural life. It has to do with scale: two coffee shops and a summer theater do not make a culture.
I urge graduates to move to the cities. You will be happier there. For the diversity, the chance to be around other thoughtful people, the opportunities you don't even know about yet.
I sincerely wish rural life was alive and well, but decades of rural poverty, poor education, and right-wing politics have hollowed out the nation's towns. The main streets are quite literally empty.
It seems to me that the American Enterprise Institute is at least partially responsible for economic / tax programs that have channeled wealth toward the 1%, so it's ironic that one of their scholars would now try to peddle the supposed charms of country life to the next generation.
College grads: come to the cities. You are welcome here.
12
@MR: everybody is different. There is no "one right place" for everyone.
Encouraging so many degreed young people to just 5 or 6 Big Blue cities has made those cities so expensive and overcrowded as to be nearly uninhabitable ( except for the very rich).
I did what the professor suggests and moved from Los Angeles to a small town in Central California to teach. The work was personally rewarding, walking distance from a cute house I could afford, and once I learned Spanish, I made lifelong friendships. But eventually the right wing bigoted evangelical white people drove me out. Because I looked like them they assumed I thought like them and so I heard first hand how mean and hateful they really are. The school district is still the largest employer in the town. These aren't myths and stereotypes the professor is trying to debunk. They are real. Rural America has been in a death spiral since WW2. All those cute family farms are long gone and agribusiness is a lousy neighbor. A massive Green New Deal might change that but it would be a very heavy lift.
24
A word of caution, if you are darker than your neighbors - small town life may not be for you. I spend a decade traveling and staying in small towns for my job. Motels that are posted as “American Owned”, waitress that ask what country are you from and cops that pull you over because you were driving “one mile” over the speed limit. These articles rarely see the world from a minority view.
16
Hey sophisticates living in a large city -- please don't talk about lack of diversity in the rural areas, it only reveals a certain provincialism to your outlook. Just off the top of my head, from a rural county, with towns of 12,000, here is some diversity a person can experience: Native American councils running a town or county, Pow-wows, sweat lodges, Lao weddings, rodeos (authentic: competition between ranches), Juneteenth barbecues, bluegrass festivals.
In rural areas, they've already gone alternative energy and organic food.They already protect the water and the air. It's not unusual for a trailer house dweller to have her paints set up in a corner, where she practices her art. Theatre, symphony, and two-step dancing, as well as county fairs. Book clubs and astronomy lovers. River canoeing and camping.
The city is fine. Just open your mind to what diversity means.
3
Citified! One of many "us against them" terms that was commonly used I my rural East Tennessee hometown. We were also taught that Yankees were not to be trusted. We even had a theme park "Rebel Railroad" in Pidgeon Forge, TN. There as children we were given toy cap pistols to pretend to shoot evil Yankee invaders. This tribalism seems to have made a resurgence. The current environment is comparable to the reaction to the 1964 Civil Rights Act Era. Remember George Wallace and Lester Maddox.
Yes there is community pride where I was raised. For that I am thankful. BUT, there is a tribalism that is palpable. I would expect measurable differences between data gathered in the rural south verses say rural northeast.
6
Hmmmm, this is kind of a first-class section view of the rural america. Kinda cool for a fancy think-tank/university discussion but lacking real information.
It ignores the macho posturing of under-educated rural men (mostly white but it can be any race) - the assumption that they are the only people who matter. The staring at anyone different, the lack of ambition and complacent entitlement of many residents, the high rates of alcoholism and other addictions. And who can forget about all those guns??
Another topic is the high-levels of corruption and nepotism in local govts. Just try to make any changes or get funding for an arts/culture event and you will see what I mean.
9
There is much to be said for the authors insights, but 60+ percent Republican Trump supporters as neighbors? Right there, right there, it's not feasible. That is hate filled, and that is the problem, and that alone will kill off any community.
12
Try moving to a small rural town as a single, newly-graduated, female professional. Attend your local church and see if anyone speaks to you if you lack husband and children (this is not an issue confined to rural America). Try to form ties to a community when you don't have kids and haven't lived there your whole life. It can be pretty isolating and depressing.
18
Professor Abrams needs to hit the road and visit rural America and he will get a better handle on the real situation. The only relevant stats are in his fourth paragraph, the rest are moot.
3
Thank goodness that some people are performing studies and analyses to more rigorous standards than this one.
10
I am not sure I would recommend rural America to a recent college grad. Where I live the community is very conservative, there is no racial diversity, even the young people are closed-minded and not interested in learning and are racist as a general rule. The schools are awful. Stay in the big cities, get a solid work foundation and then maybe move to a mid-sized city but stay away from the rural south.
7
Many small communities are homes to fine colleges, universities, and laboratories - Storrs, Amherst, Northampton, Los Alamos, for example. There one can enjoy rural living, clean air, low crime, and intellectual stimulation all together.
3
I spent a summer working in Los Alamos. One of the coolest towns I’ve ever worked and lived in. I’d move there in a heartbeat. But...it is NOT rural America. You have easy access to Santa Fe....a very liberal, artsy, well-educated city.
5
This article demonstrates why sociology is barely a science. Show me real data, not what people are willing to admit to a surveyor. Most people lie to themselves in some way about how they feel about their choices. Better to do that then feel unsatisfied or regretful. It's a normal human tendency. But it also makes these kinds of surveys worthless.
Some real data - How many college-educated people are actually in rural areas? How many didn't live their prior, but went out after school? What are their earnings and earnings trajectory? How does that compare to comparable graduates living in urban areas? How many actually stay long term? One sociological question maybe worth asking - Would they want their children to make the same choices?
Ridiculous article.
6
It appears, from the commentary, that Dr. Abrams did not do a good job selling rural America. With a Ph.D, as the "Dr." suggests, he should know his audience better than this article would appear that he does. Hummmm.
5
To any recent or up coming college graduate before you move anywhere, you may want to read this just released analysis of jobs in America:
The future of work in America , People and places, today and tomorrow
By - McKinsey Global Institute ( July 2019 )
A thoroughly detailed breakdown of work prospects for the next 10 years, for every county in America. Get the PDF 4MB version for the extensive detail.
Actually, everyone should take a look.
3
Wow! 25% of educated rural adults think there are "plenty" of good jobs around! You realize this means 75% of them don't... right?
16
By "rural" places, are we talking about tiny towns in Ohio or Kentucky far removed from urban centers, unfashionable middle and smaller-sized cities between the coasts that the NYC and SF crowds tend to pooh-pooh, or something else?
I definitely agree that big, prestigious cities are overrated. I can get fancy cocktail bars, live music, upscale dining, museums, bookstores, and other comforts in both Seattle *and* Lexington, KY these days. The idea that SF and NYC are the only safe places to be gay is outdated, too.
I still don't know about moving to a burnt out town where the only two career options are Walmart and the military. You gotta go where the opportunity is.
8
What percentage of college educated people living in rural areas identify as conservative, liberal or moderate? The author does not identify them. My guess is that the larger percentage of them are conservative. My advice to liberal, progressive or even moderate politically speaking college graduates are to stay away from most any rural community unless you have family roots there. Nothing is worse than to feel isolated in a town or area that unless you are "from there", belong to the dominant church there and move in the conservative political circles (the good old boys network) you will be persona non grata.
9
There's rural and there's Rural. The first is close enough, 1-2 hours to at least a good secondary metropolitan area, with good medical care, colleges and art. The vibe is not religious.
Rural with a capital "R" isn't any of the above.
I've lived rural and love it. You do have to drive distances, however. It's for those who want to settle down, not those in their 20's.
And - as they say around here - "bring your own spouse."
7
"Let’s start with the idea that urban areas are overwhelmingly progressive and rural areas overwhelmingly conservative. This is simply wrong." No, it's not wrong. I lived for 8 years in the suburbs of Chicago after my divorce and spent the rest of my 61 years living in Brooklyn & Queens, NYC, and 20 years on Long Island. Long Island is and was, for all it's closeness to NYC--then and now--filled with highly conservative, narrow minded yokels, very similar to the suburbs of Chicago. My millennial daughter lives in Levittown, Long Island, just 20 miles from the NYC border and can't believe she lives & works in Trump Country.
7
The main method of increasing a young professional compensation is moving from one employer to another - however, most rural communities are one horse towns, and there's limited or no mobility in job opportunities.
Unless you have family in the area, chances are you will move for better pay or a more diverse lifestyle - you could move to a suburb of a larger, more diverse city and get the same lifestyle as the rural professional, but many more choices. Not many professionals move to rural areas for farming or fishing/hunting - they want a safe neighborhood with recreation for the kids and themselves.
Oh yeah, the constant RW drumbeat from the local media affects the attitudes of the locals and there nothing like always having to defend a different viewpoint all the time. Plus, having to join a local church for a social life ruins every Sunday morning.....
4
Sounds like AEI Happy-talk. Decades ago, a high school graduate departing a small Northern California town was asked why he was moving to a real city. His response was priceless: "The problem with small towns is that the people have small minds."
9
This piece mostly reflects the human tendency to like whatever it is you chose - or were dealt. Adaptability is a fine trait.
But as to objective criteria, Abrams misses too many things that are less available in rural settings: Great cultural institutions like art museums, orchestras and theater; an interesting array of restaurants and entertainment options; a critical mass of people to play chamber music (if you are a musician); a good chance to lose the car and use a bicycle or public transportation.
There are others, but the analysis is limited.
3
@Barking Doggerel: how many people in big cities actually patronize museums and theaters and orchestras? I mean, some….but hardly a majority. It's mostly wealthy elites. Those things are VERY expensive today.
And cars? LOL!!! NYC, DC, LA, Chicago, Boston are GRIDLOCKED NIGHTMARES of traffic.
A few lucky wealthy folks can live in "walkable city neighborhoods" (again, it is $$$$) but the average person cannot and faces horrific commutes.
@Concerned Citizen As someone who loves the arts but also spends carefully, cities more than rural areas have the people, resources, and $$ to offer high-quality entertainment for free/ low-cost. People just have to Google for them. In my area, the local towns each have weekly concerts all summer long which are free. The Friday ones in one town are attended by hundreds of people each time. Later this year, I am attending a free concert by a group for which I have paid $40-50 to see in the past.
(I have also worked in a rural area so have seen the other side.)
2
Did the author really mean “rural”? To most of us, that conjures up farming country, as does the illustration that accompanies the article.
What he seems to have been talking about, however, is every place that is not a major metropolitan center. That covers a lot of ground: actual farming communities, tiny suburban communities, such as the one I live in, larger suburbs, small towns, small cities, etc.
They are not at all the same. My little suburb has a highly educated populace and runs two to one in favor of Democrats over Republicans. Ten miles up the road is actual farm country, which is definitely conservative, and where one cannot even access cell service. Ten miles down the road is a modest sized city with a county courthouse, a federal courthouse, a diocesan Cathedral, nice restaurants, and all of the problems that come with cities, including poverty, public school issues, and a certain amount of governmental corruption.
We cannot all live in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, and most of us don’t.
Most communities, large and small, are a mixture of people who thrive and people who fail to thrive.
When giving advice to young people as to where to live, just tell them to go to where their hearts lead them. After a while, they will know whether or not they have made the right decision and can course correct. In today’s world, mobility is always an option!
2
I live in a solidly blue state - legislatively. The majority of the state is rural. The majority of liberal-minded people live in and very close to the city, but the majority of the city residents are religious and conservative. You'd better know your counties, towns and city neighborhoods if you want to be able to have a real community with your neighbors in today's environment. Born and raised in the city, I've since lived in six different towns around it. All proved to be majority conservative.
For forty years I've silently endured religious preaching, insular and backwards worldviews, and small and/or closed minds, in the name of politeness. In all the years of helping them, I'd smile when Jesus got thanked for sending me to do it, instead of me. I've known as many people with advanced education as not; it's not about education. It's about expanding your worldview. When you believe you know all there is to know, you're not open to learning anything new.
I changed around 2000, when Bush was put in office. It took about 10 years to realize I could no longer stand to listen to the increasingly and almost incessant ignorant, mean-spirited chatter of my FOX News neighbors. My few good friends died; I've gradually let go the others. If it weren't for my very small family it would be a very lonely life here.
It's not politics. It's that the core of what drives their politics finally showed itself. I can't separate them now, and I'm so disillusioned I give up.
13
This is a very refreshing article.
At the same time I think it would be good to ask why corporate America doesn’t do more to locate in rural America, or at least in underinvested, smaller cities.
As a Seattleite I was disappointed to see Amazon choose secondary headquarters in locations that already have high housing costs which will only be exacerbated by its presence. What about all those struggling places with plentiful real estate?
3
I'm gay. After college in 2002, there was never an option to choose rural America. No one there wanted to welcome a LGBTQ person into their community and there would have been few people for me to befriend or date that weren't college age kids coming out or older married men trying to cheat on their wives. That does not sound like a good life to me.
11
I work in health-care. I would have strongly considered certain rural areas when I completed school because the costs of living were (and remain) less than cities' costs of living. Unfortunately so many rural areas removed their only hospitals! What was I supposed to do? Stay somewhere where I knew no job would materialize?
10
And where is Sarah Lawrence College?
Thought so.
12
I was about to beg to differ with the author, but then I read some of the slanted comments, including some of the NYT picks.
Rural is not the same everywhere. I live in rural Vermont, and while there are certainly Trump supporters in my village, we have a mix of ages and education levels. Socially and politically this place is nothing like the rural South, or even West Virginia. Economically it's another story, but that's because here in Sandersland there's a dislike for business and economic growth, even smart growth. I can live here because my work is not location-dependent. Vermont offers to pay people to move here with their remote jobs; that's how bad the economy is. We actually keep some young college graduates because they feel the lifestyle here outweighs the financial sacrifice they have to make.
I grew up in the suburbs. I've lived in a big city and in a small village. The place I really dislike is suburbia. I like living in this particular rural area, but you couldn't pay me to move to Trump country. And if I were in my twenties, I'd live in a city, assuming that city was NYC, Boston, Chicago (maybe), or on the West Coast.
4
Hey rural America! While I was growing up (in rural Washington state) I was constantly told that I needed to go to college in order to live a better life than my working class parents. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to college, so I joined the U.S. Army in 1967. My military service, and the year I spent in Vietnam, allowed me to enroll in a small state university in my home state. The G.I. Bill helped, but I needed to work part-time as a dishwasher and custodian to pay for my tuition, books and my day-to-day expenses. And, sure enough, my college education has allowed me to live a more prosperous life than my parents. Please don’t hate me because I followed the advise many of my generation received and, by doing so, became a part of your “college educated elite”.
11
Seriously, has this professor ever lived in a small, rural community in the middle of nowhere? I followed a spouse around the country who was going from one academic job to another. Sure, we had a big house and really cheap too. But there was no work for me for years and I mean years. Try adding that to your resume in the future and you get so far behind in the job market it makes your head spin. There was literally nothing to do other than watch drunken students get into brawls and house prices plummet when the state cut back university funding. Good medical care was 80 miles away. We couldn't get back to New York fast enough. And there isn't a day that goes by that I ever look back on those days in small town America with nostalgia.
15
When I was 21 and newly graduated from college, I wanted to live in a city and moved to one and then another and then another. When I was 38, however, I went rural. As a 20/30-something, the particular opportunities and pleasures of cities were what I wanted: restaurants, bookstores, cafés, the arts, hustle and bustle. Later, I had had enough of the grime, the crime (2 cars stolen), and the unrelenting proximity of others, and was willing to give up those other things. Also (and this is crucial), I was married by then -- finding a compatible mate is far easier in a city than in a town of 10,000. I love this life now, but I wouldn't have wanted it then.
6
Thank you for this much-needed perspective. I know living in a rural area can be deeply fulfilling because I myself live in one. After being educated in the big city and living there for a few years, I chose to pursue a job opportunity in the small NH town I grew up in, and I'm very happy I did so.
I don't know much about the rural south, but I think a distinction needs to be made for rural towns in the northeast - it's certainly nothing like the racist/Trumpian hellhole some commenters apparently attribute to all rural areas. Are there Trump supporters where I live? Sure, and there are lots of thoughtful conservatives, moderates, and liberals as well.
And of course I agree with other commenters that it's not a good idea for a college grad to simply show up in a rural town and hope it all works out - you'd want to find a job first then make the move. (And yes, believe it or not some businesses and employers are based in rural areas). That said, I agree with Dr. Abrams' overall point, which is that many college grads shouldn't rule out looking for employment in rural towns.
Added bonus: you can buy a decent house for a reasonable price.
2
It depends on the small town. There are many small towns in Colorado that are wonderful places full of interesting and educated people. Same with Northern California. But I follow a newspaper in a small town in South Central Kansas and a large percentage of the readers believe the moon landing was faked and government should never assist people with healthcare. Here, the letters to the editor are right out of the 1930's.
11
Living in the country can be great, but you can forget about timely emergency services. Response times can be over an hour or more, so you'll need to get firearms to protect yourself, if necessary, and should have good knowledge of first aid. If you have chronic or life threatening conditions, medical services are scant. Specialists tend to be few and far between in rural areas, so trips to the city will be necessary. Social isolation can also be a problem, especially if you're the sort of person who likes group socialization.
I am not suggesting that rural living is bad. It has a charm and a rhythm all its own that really is wonderful. But it comes with a lot of conditions which are off-putting to many.
As with a move to any locale, look before you leap!
5
Wow, the comments on this board are so out of touch with the rural area where I live. We have a thriving, growing university, a good medical community and a military facility that moves new people in and out regularly. Yes, there are a lot of churces but no one forces anyone to attend. We have arts and crafts festivals, lots of inter-racial couples and families, a small LGBTQ community that no one seems to harass AND NO traffic. A great golf course, fishing, boating, hiking and for those who choose, hunting. What's not to like?
1
@Tim
University towns are not rural.
7
@Tim Is that rural?
3
@Tim College towns are not representative of rural America writ large. I'm glad you enjoy your town. A lot of people seem to enjoy living in college towns and they draw far more young people than similarly sized and located towns without colleges.
8
What this guy is pushing is dangerous......dangerous for anyone not a white male who either agrees with Trump and the racists or who willingly ignores it.
I would suggest the author run this trope past Richard Florida who has actually studied and published on this very topic. I don't believe he would agree and could cite data and stats telling why this author is living in a bubble.
14
It would certainly round out the problems caused by our idiotic Electoral College.
4
An apt assessment of the statistics.
However having lived in a rural community for decades I can say that the author has overlooked the fact that rural residents are more likely to be satisfied with what's going on in their community because as a member of a smaller cohort they have a greater social and political input on the situation, and as the article notes, more of them get to know and daily interact with neighbors of different political/cultural persuasion which effectively reduces cultural friction.
While rural living is less appealing to people with dogmatic attitudes, country living engenders an organic as opposed to doctrinal tolerance, not to mention that when misfortune strikes anyone the entire community rallies to their support regardless of cultural/political differences
2
@Sam
"More of them get to know and daily interact with neighbors of different political/cultural persuasion which effectively reduces cultural friction. "
That plays into something that simply isn't true, the fact is that in many rural areas, you don't get to see neighbors of different political/cultural persuasions,because it doesn't exist. Co-existing often means keeping your mouth shut, so neighbors assume that someone who doesn't talk politics is in agreement with them. Different cultures? Most of the rural areas you are talking about a very, very monocultured, these are some of the most highly concentrated pockets of white only areas around, or extreme white dominance.
And whatever 'organic' tolerance is, in the end it boils down to as long as you keep your mouth shut, as long as you don't 'flaunt your lifestyle', as long as you behave and follow the (unwritten) rules, people might tolerate you living there. Obviously rural areas are different, but what you are trying to claim is that the fault lies with more populated areas, that if we understood that it is all the fault of identity politics and 'doctrinal tolerance' that people don't get along, and I hate to tell you something, that is what southern Segregationists claimed about race, that if left alone whites and blacks were 'just fine' under Jim Crow.
4
with all due respect, the past 3 years in northeast Tennessee has been a living nightmare. this area is filled with old, white, ultra conservative, bible thumping, gun toting, pro-life, anti-gay and big truck driving hypocrites. if these are your people...welcome. If not, this might not be the place for you.
19
I find this article and the comments sobering. Beyond the discussion about where to live after graduation, they reveal the stark reality that America is really two countries – and, increasingly, never the twain shall meet. Rural areas are quickly becoming economic and cultural wastelands, isolated and deprived of interacting with the vast diversity that humanity is. They fear what they don’t know.
And because of how our Constitution was written, because of our federalism, Supreme Court-sanctioned gerrymandering, and anachronistic Electoral College, that rural minority has control of the government – of the country.
The Constitution was written for a rural agrarian society that existed at the time, and with the belief that our country would remain that way. The founders gave disproportionate power to the rural faction after much contentious compromise. And so, some 230 years later that faction still holds the power in spite a massive demographic shift. Today 80% of the population lives in urban areas.
Abrams is a conservative writing a feckless marketing piece that tries to promote the locale of his conservative base. But the hollowing out of rural America is likely to only get worse. That trend has to do with economics, and a changing world. But it also has to do with the isolated rural mentality that insists on shooting itself in the foot. It wants to vote against its own best interest.
We need to seize a government that reflects the reality of 2019, not 1789.
18
I'm sure people of color in MAGA states will be welcomed with open arms. Stay away.
10
Walk-ability and public transportation are mentioned a lot whenever there's an article like this. I live in a large metro and can hop in my car and be anywhere in 15 minutes, awfully convenient. Cars certainly cost money but they are a lot cheaper than NYC rent.
1
I live in a rural college town, and the graduates can't find sufficient diversity of employment opportunities to keep them in this area. There is high demand for medical professionals, but no medical school in the area. There is beautiful farmland and wilderness for those who enjoy the outdoors, so yes, there are possibilities for quality of life. But the demographics of the region create a self-fulfilling prophecy. The population is aging, and young college graduates want to go where there are many other young adults. And yes, those who are progressive aren't interested in living in a politically conservative region where the civil rights achievements of the past four decades are under attack. They don't want to live in that world, and in cities they can feel more at ease that their rights will be respected.
8
Sounds good.
As long as you're white.
8
The problem, Dr. Abrams, is that the rural areas tilt toward bigoted, elderly "conservatives" and drive off their young people. Consequently, they lack the facilities, services, and social opportunities that educated middle-class Americans want. Good restaurants and bars, hospitals and clinics, recreational facilities, above-standard childhood and young adult education, for example.
The rural areas simply do not have enough people or the right kind of people to provide the vigor and labor needed to make decent and pleasant communities.
Middle America is a social wilderness that awaits hard-working, hopeful, and optimistic settlers. Let's throw open the gates at our southern border to let them in!
169
@AynRant
Wow, this post appears a bit bigoted towards a huge part of the country. But, yes, social opportunities and good bars should be a guaranteed liberty for all...
These kinds of generalizations about the rural US help fuel the resentment of that part of the country towards the elites and help get people like Trump elected .
32
@Robert @ AynRant
As someone living in NYC with a house in Upstate NY in a rural area only 100 miles from NYC, I agree w/ Ayn 1000%.
We do not even have high speed internet upstate! How can that area compete?? There are no good hospitals.. very few cultural events and the schools are horrible. ( Like 20% go to college)
The full timers I have met, are also very closed minded about anyone different from them. I do not even know where I would work if I wanted to live there full time. ZERO Jobs... maybe Walmart? Or . Dr office making $15 an hr?
34
@Karen- No high-speed internet!!?? What a blessing! Now you are not forced to watch cat videos. And, I'll bet the yokels love it when you show up. You sound like the life of the party!
12
Yeah, going to teach history in a rural community as opposed to New York City sounds great. Who wouldn't want to be fired for refusing to teach children that slavery in America wasn't really such a big deal, and that the slaves were better off enslaved than free? Who wouldn't want to be fired for teaching that the labor movements of the early 20th century weren't actually communist revolutions? Who wouldn't want to be fired for implying that the historical record contradicts things that are described in the bible?
It's not just differences in ideology, it's a the fundamental perception held by many residents of rural communities that knowledge and education are things to be looked down on, rather than aspired to. There absolutely are those people in cities also, but they make up a much smaller percentage of the population.
There are objective facts in my field that, if I attempted to teach them in certain rural communities, I would be ostracized by everyone around me at best, and driven out of town on a rail at worst. So why on Earth would I ever choose to go to places like that of my own free will?
228
It takes courage to do the uncomfortable thing, like going to a rural school and using good pedagogy to encourage students to question the basic assumptions with which they were raised. This can be done without bludgeon, the default mode of AmerIcan argument today. I think this comment probably reflects how we Americans are failing each other.
26
@Thomas Hobbes Teaching salaries are even more miserabley lower in rural areas.
42
How do you know this?
I grew up in a rural community, in Upstate NY, before I moved to Brooklyn after college. Now, I have returned to teach upstate.
The students are open minded, progressive. The parents are appreciative when we push the limits of “traditional” curriculum, such as watching ‘Do the Right Thing.’
Maybe in your work, you could examine some of the history of rural America, getting to the nuance of the culture in which so many Americans live.
28
I'm in the middle of nowhere and it isn't great. The dating prospects are dim, there's nothing to do, and nearly everyone else who lives here is pretty conservative. The only thing to do out here is fish and drink. And importantly, if you go to the middle of nowhere, that's not where your peers and friends went.
6
I have just returned from visiting my small hometown in northwest Georgia for a family gathering. I can tell you this: I would only move back there with great reluctance. I was told to shut up because I expressed some very mild opinion, while I had to sit and listen to an old cousin rant about how everything was going to hell in a handbasket because people were burning flags, a trend I’ve somehow missed. He looked at me like I had two heads when I said that patriotism was alive and well in both political parties. Sure, go live in the country if you’re comfortable keeping your opinions to yourself forever and if you’re okay with never putting a political campaign sign in your yard.
6
Your description sounds very much like being a conservative in California.
1
Professor Abrams - May I ask what political ideology has to do with economic activity or opportunity? As a professor at Sarah Lawrence you reside in southern Westchester New York - a 25 minute train ride to NYC.
I suggest you get in your car and drive 200 miles northwest into Madison County, New York, where the most lucrative opportunity for financial gain outside of academia is the recycling plant.
This piece reeks of a lack of real world experience.
18
I have lived and worked in Orange County California and in the 'rural' Midwest. The cost of living in Southern CA and its overloaded freeways are becoming a problem. Those are small problems in most small or medium sized cities in the Midwest.
Trump carried Minnesota's CD-1 by around 60% and CD-1 flipped its representative from blue to red in the midterms. But there are two progressive midsized cities here, Rochester and Mankato. Both are prosperous and growing, and housing and the cost of living are a fraction of Orange County. Mayo is located in Rochester, and Mankato has a university. No shortage of advanced degrees in either one. MSP is about an hour away, about the same time it takes to get from Orange County to LAX.
5
Much probably depends on where one grew up / what one is used to. When I lived in / near cities I appreciated the conveniences and anonymity (if not the commutes). But it's hard to beat a small college town for the best of everything (or enough, anyway) in a relaxed, affordable setting.
1
Here is what I have heard recently from educated kids: What smart, educated young person wants to squander their youth among a bunch of trump supporters?
Deep-red states, with their insular rural areas, have to realize that their perceived predominant way of thinking (racism, religious bigotry, devotion to providing as few taxpayer-supported services as possible, forced-birth mentality) is deeply unattractive, repellent even, to many of those educated young people. There's really no way to change that perception without changing the underlying reality.
173
@Plashy Fen
Rural does not have to equate with Trump county. It certainly does not in my rural county.
11
@Jude Looking at the 2016 electoral map, with a few exceptions, indicates otherwise.
11
As a liberal living in an exurban area (rural, if you prefer), I can agree with some of professor Abrams conclusions, but not others. My wife and I have many friends here, but all are ideologically our opposites. We know this, because strongly held conservative and Trumpist positions are so thoroughly assumed by almost all that they are discussed in much the same way as the weather. Opposition, on the other hand, can end friendships almost instantly -- and we misplaced few know that.
9
Having lived in a couple of small cities (about 100,000 inhabitants each), there are two problems that you do not address in your article:
1) If you are married and each partner has a degree in similar disciplines, it is not always easy to get good jobs for both of them.
2) When a job source goes down in a small town, usually the only way to get another good job is to move somewhere else, with the associated cost.
As much as you might like small communities, and I do not deny most of their good qualities, as a job proposition they are not always the most logical choice.
7
Heh. One of the reasons there’s no diversity in these areas is because many residents were “white flighters.” Cities like Atlanta are prosperous, multicultural places with plenty of great jobs. But the outlying towns have a lot of folks who fled there as soon as African-Americans got elected to city government—and they bitterly resent being “driven out.” Suffice to say as closed-minded and economically barren as white graduates find these areas, it’s twenty times worse for their non-white counterparts.
7
A big problem of rural living for recent graduates not addressed in this article is the lack of dating pool.
5
Food, fashion, culture, diversity, and passion are among myriad things that make cities better than rural areas. Condemning yourself to bumpkin-town isn't just career suicide, it's lifestyle suicide.
5
My dad had a friend (a dentist) whose answer about why he chose to live in a small town was that he liked being a big frog in a small pond rather than a small frog in a big pond. It's simply easier to live that way, but you will always wonder if you could indeed handle a big frog life.
1
For those more interested in this topic, NPR's Podcast, "Planet Money" did a episode on the idea of cities being overrated.
Their findings were quite interesting, it seemed that unless you were into big techy jobs, being in a city doesn't guarantee more economic and social success. They can be overrated for many demographics. I'd encourage people to check it out
2
If you come of age in a large city and then move to a small town, you have a different mindset from the locals and never entirely fit in. You always tend to view the locals as being somewhat parochial.
5
Don't pass laws against abortion; increase school funding to start and ; you may see the change.
5
Correction: Dr. Abrams is a LIBERTARIAN political scientist.
1
Data from AEI, questionable from the beginning. No statement that different topics analyze different subsets of the population, so why is 39% vs 20% for ideological differences not as “notable” as 65% vs 55% for knowing neighbors. The analysis is as ideological as the data source is questionable.
3
Move to gerrymandered areas and vote.
3
Perhaps Elon Musk and his micro satellite fast internet is the key here..
With ultra fast internet you truly could live anywhere and have fabulous connectivity..
1
Bentonville, Arkansas: Crystal Bridges, Onyx coffee shop, multinational restaurants, brand-new movie theaters, International Film Festival, music venues, wine bars, and really kind, friendly people.
23
@minerva but Arkansas
14
Not to be pedantic, but what are we calling "rural?" Bentonville, Arkansas, is in an area with a population of more than half a million people. Sounds more urban than rural to me, but then I grew up in an Arkansas town with about 750 people. Definitely rural and I would not return voluntarily.
35
@minerva With the world HQ of Walmart and a metro area of a half a million people, it's pretty rich calling Bentonville rural.
27
I've been living in a small town in the rural Midwest that is home to various multinationals, all in the automotive industry, and as result there's lots of well-paying jobs and opportunity for professional development up to par with those in coastal cities. However, as a single, person of color from a liberal state, I find a hard time finding people who share similar hobbies and values. Racism, sexism and all of the "isms" propelled by this administration are very real and serve as a powerful force to keep us minority millennials looking for more acceptable places, which do tend to be in bigger, coastal cities.
4
This is a silly article. How do you find a job after college? Well what you don't do is pick a random rural town and hope.
If you are lucky, you may spend your summer looking and then go where you find a jobs. Typically you will land a jobs that is "entry level" and will be part of a cohort of other similar new hires. You will be trained and over a few years you may grow with your company ... or you may move on.
These entry level opportunities typically exist around cities (medium to large) and with businesses that are typically well known. If you are a college grad and are looking for entry level in a rural area, unless you have a special skill, you will end up as an assistant manager of a fast food store. (This writer was an assistant manager at a KFC decades ago in the Dayton area).
Advice is cheap. But if the writer has a specific suggestion - he did not make it here.
5
Sure kids come to my rural area. Here you’ll be harassed if you’re gay or a person of color. If you’re a young woman your reproductive rights are being stripped away. If you’re a Democrat you better keep that quiet or risk shunning. In fact except for high office you won’t find a Democrat on a ballot. All the local news leans conservative. And if you don’t join a church you will not be well received. There’s no public transportation. Children’s quality of life scores are low with a lot of neglect and abuse. A walk in the woods in any direction you’ll likely find a meth lab. We’d love to inject some new blood here but even our kids move away.
213
I have an anecdotal story about young people and rural areas. A family friend became a Methodist Pastor, and was thriving in his career as Associate Pastor at a large church in Dallas. He was young, single and looking as most young people are. The denomination then assigned him to be head pastor in a town in rural Texas. He was miserable, lonely and eventually left the ministry.
3
The correct headline should be "Hey, White cisgender straight College Graduates" ... for all of us who don't fit that description most rural places are neither welcoming nor safe places to live! This is the exact reason why my spouse and I can only live in a few select cities. #whiteprivilege #heteronormative
4
How close are you to a major accredited hospital facility?
Are you other than hetero norm?
What control do women have over their bodies in your new state?
How well funded are the schools and do they offer programs that your children might need?
Are you a non christian?
How Trumpy is the area?
150
@Lawrence the medical care issue, including women's health care, obviously, and children's education are huge.
12
There's an awful lot missing from this op-ed. Like how many college-educated residents are in these rural areas? What are their jobs? I grew up in a rural area. The only jobs there that require a college education are teacher, doctor, nurse and lawyer. Those are good jobs, to be sure, but a rural area only needs so many of them. And consulting? This idea of working remotely has been pushed for years now. The reality is that, as a consultant, you often still need to meet with clients in person. All things being equal, a company is more likely to hire the consultant who's closer to their office.
3
Hey, college graduates: do dismiss rural America. I'm telling you from experience, there's absolutely nothing here that is of any value especially if you are a minority. Good luck finding someone representative of your views if you're remotely liberal.
6
Western MA. That pretty much says it all. The land of poorly paying non profit organizations. I should have high tailed it to NYC after college. No job opportunities here unless you count a $25K annual job at any of the pathetic non profits around here.
68
Ouch. Rural MA represents the worst of both worlds: a rural area in a high-cost of living and high-tax state. If one chooses a rural area, it definitely ought to be one that has low cost of living.
9
With all due respect, Dr. Abrams sugarcoats the appeal of rural communities to young people starting out. I suppose it depends on what you call a rural community, and one also has to recognize that a rural town in Connecticut is not nearly as isolated as one in say Montana or the Dakotas. But in the typical small town of say 2000 or fewer people, a 20-something should not move there expecting a broad variety of employment opportunities, diverse cuisine, any night-life beyond a diner open to 9 PM or maybe a pub, or much opportunity to meet other young people much less the likelihood of finding a mate. Now, when you're married, settled, have children, and your idea of night-life is being awakened to change a diaper, small town America is a terrific place to settle and bring those young people up, even if they have an hour-and-a-half bus ride (each way) to high school. But, if you want a quiet life where you know your neighbors and they know you, and your business, and you want economic diversity (sorry, not a lot of racial or ethnic diversity), maybe like Eddie Albert on the 60's sit-com Green Acres you'll be singing "farm-livin' is the life for me! Land spreadin' out so far and wide; keep Manhattan and give me the country-side!" Of course, if you are one of those young people who lives a virtual life on social media, maybe all you need is a house in the country and good high-speed internet. Oh.
49
The accompanying graphic shows a mixed race couple. How often is this seen in rural America? Somewhat misleading, me thinks. White people going to rural white areas will certainly feel at home.
4
No, but you do have to live in cities if you want to be safe
1
Well......
I don’t know about that.
I have relatives who live in these areas. They are all MAGA bigots. As the other of a gay son and a daughter, living in theses rural areas (N.Y., PA, S.NJ and Al) that’s not the advice I would give my kids.
.....and coming from a family reunion this weekend, I drove down art 76 in PA and absorbed the prolife billboards and gun repositories.
Thanks, but no thanks.
7
The fact the people "identify as" moderate may mean entirely different things in different areas.
2
I tried the Kumbayah approach when we moved to rural GA many years ago. It didn't work. The first week there, I met a neighbor who used the N-word. I was appalled, yet so stunned that I didn't call her out on it. I was so ashamed of myself for that. But, I returned to my house and informed my husband and kids about the conversation. We all prepared ourselves for possible future racist conversations, and unfortunately during our first year there, I called out several people for using the N-word; I called out our neighbor for wanting to kill Muslims (incidentally, this neighbor was honored as a "teacher of the year" in a neighboring school district), I had many conversations about the racist connotations of the Rebel flag; and my daughters tried to be supportive of LGBTQ teens at the high school as these kids' parents disowned their own children and other teens harassed and marginalized them. Overall, not a happy place to be.
18
@FarmGirl
I hear you. I spent 4 years in the suburbs of Atlanta & said I'd never move south of the Mason Dixon line again. The confederate battle flag was part of the state flag - I felt sick the first time I saw it. It was still flying over every public school when we left in 1996.
I felt miserable & anxious every time I confronted racists and miserable & guilty every time I didn't.
6
Thanks but no thanks. I was born and raised in Iowa, in Steve King's district no less. When I turned 18, the only question was college on the East Coast or West Coast.
Yes, we have to solve the Electoral College problem, but I've already paid my dues.
7
I would be interested in the definitions of "rural" and "urban" here. Is the author talking about towns of 1,000 people or mid-tier cities of several hundred thousand (or more)? There are enormous differences in opportunity and culture between those population points. The difference between Waseca, MN and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Between Milan, MI and Ann Arbor.
2
@CMB
Since Prof. Abrams has a political agenda, he probably cheery picked to locations to support his argument.
4
Compelling statistics but the fact remains...if you are a minority, the middle part of the country is NOT welcoming. Yes, you will meet and engage with great people, but the chances of bad experiences because of how you look (i.e. ethnicity) is much much greater.
People, any people, enjoy diversity from afar, but adopt a much different attitude when they are confronted with it on a regular basis. Big, diverse cities are the machines that are trying to change this fact.
4
Well could the comments be more condescending or stereotypical of those of us that chose to live in a rural area? Yes, I spent 26 plus years in urban areas. I hold two graduate degrees. My wife holds a Harvard PhD. We are educated and world travelers. We are not ideologues.
Many of our neighbors are more conservative than us; but that does not prevent them from shoveling our drive in the winter when we are gone or watching our kids when we step out on a date. Saturday we hosted a block party with attendees from 2 to 86. We have community here. I missed that when I was on the coasts.
Our local high school graduates roughly 80 a year and sent a person to Ivies each of the past two years. Our local college produced one Nobel winner in physics and several NFL players.
Eating local and organic was all the rage when we left New England. Our primary red meat is deer killed on our own property. The eggs we eat come from our neighbor's farm. My garden produces many of the vegetables we consume.
My wife and children take piano lessons from a lady who was a professional singer in Las Vegas. They take riding lessons from the seventy year old lady who broke the mustang they sometimes ride.
Being part of a community is paramount to me. It might not be for you. But enough with uninformed troupes on rural America. We could live and work anywhere-we chose Nebraska. We will always be platypuses to our neighbors; but we are accepted and valued for who we are.
2
A lot of these troupes actually seemed informed. Not everyone had as enjoyable experience as you, maybe because their money didn't insulate or isolate them. Maybe because their race or beliefs exposed them to be socially ostracized. Maybe because their neighbors weren't as welcoming as yours, or were more two-faced . Or maybe they just noticed it more than you did. Your mileage may vary.
6
@wcdevinss
Why would you lead with "actually seemed informed?" Do you know something about my life I do not know? Are you trying to reinforce my condescending point.
I shared my desire for community and how I found it. My life is not for everyone. Our community has its problems. I don't discount them. Nevertheless, we are trying to work them out; led by our thirty year old native American, college educated, home grown mayor who chose to stay here. Once again, his well informed choice.
We are not delusional. We are not all Trump supporters. Similarly, I know that not all urban dwellers are insert your favorite stereotype here. The point I want to make is there are opportunities throughout our nation. I have succeeded in urban and rural settings. I assure you my opinions are informed and factual.
@Mark Werner
I led with that because you complained that some of the comments here repeated merely prejudices or old stereotypes. I was pointing out that many of them seemed to have come from direct experience and not just ivory tower observation (as seems to have been the case with Prof Abrams here.) I don't doubt that your personal experience recounted here was accurate, and never meant to say that. I apologize if it appeared I was calling you untruthful; I was not. I merely wanted to mention that other commenters have apparently truthful posts recounting experiences that weren't as positive as yours. Your post made it seem to me that you doubted the veracity of those other posters. I am glad that your life is working out; continue to enjoy and improve it.
1
I grew up in a small California town. They are great places to be from.
Young people like to socialize. You can socialize more if there are more people and they're near you. This is very simple.
3
I beg college grads to move to rural areas. And don’t forget to vote!
1
Last week, thanks to ProPublica, I learned about a couple who deeply loved the life they had built in rural WV, but reluctantly departed when a gas drilling operation on their land became too invasive. "We won't be able to pass this farm down to future generations...." Said another resident, "Yeah, I miss the peace and quiet more than anything." You can watch a video about this story here: https://www.propublica.org/article/when-fracking-companies-own-the-gas-beneath-your-land
I also have friends who left their cherished rural CO community for city life when the rural community was not able to force fracking projects to control hazardous emissions, despite recorded, ongoing violations of air quality standards.
Maybe don't allow rural environments to be ravaged by extractive industries if you want people to move and thrive there?
10
I've spent time extended periods of time in rural America. There are definitely positives, especially a close sense of community, but only if you fit in.
Life in rural Americans is really difficult and isolating for LGBT people. Around 20% of millennials identify as LGBT. It can also be isolating for atheists, racial minorities adnd college educated women. Again, these are all groups that disproportionately comprise millennials.
Yes, there are plenty of jobs for college educated teachers, nurses, doctors, but not much outside of that. Many jobs like finance, consulting, advertising, computer science, exist almost entirely in urban or suburban areas.
As such, convincing young people to move to rural America is largely a waste of time. More productive would be to emphasize the opportunities in non-coastal cities. They offer a wide breadth of jobs and acceptance of diversity, while being far cheaper than coastal cities. Some example are Columbus, Boise, Raleigh and Colorado Springs.
9
I too think what is missing from this article is the in between cities, Cleveland, Minneapolis, etc come to mind. Those cities offer jobs and affordability (at least for now.) But young people are not going to move to small town Minnesota if there aren’t interesting jobs. These towns need to look at why they can’t attract a large business which would then lead to young people moving in. I think there are plenty of young people who aren’t looking for curated food, or a new restaurant opening monthly, but they want a career that isn’t a dead end.
3
As soon as you leave any city in any area the south starts. The attitude and perceptions are palatable. My personal opinion is that if a political slanted news channel that could play on the rural American aspects that they could be swayed. Just think of the Bible Belt TV platform. If any political party would go for these so called victims. Tell them they've been forgotten.
5
This all sounds good coming from a Social Scientist. I've lived in both rural and urban areas. There is a quaint quality of life in *some* rural communities- particularly those in close proximity to larger cities. But...job opportunities within the community are typically scarce. Housing is cheaper-for sure. The headaches of trying to navigate the geography of a major metropolitan area are rarely a concern. But...quality of life and earning potential often-isn't there.
Depending on the area, there isn't a good mix of industries; many rural communities are tied to one; and everyone can't work at the one (or two factories) or warehouses If one is graduating with a professional degree, recruitment from local government or schools or hospitals are possibilities but private industry-no;and for the rest-no.
This piece ignores so much of the reality of work and life in rural communities- as to be almost insulting.
17
At age 33 i moved to North Canton, Ohio, a small town on the outskirts of Canton, which itself only has 70,000 people. My wife and I had PhDs from M.I.T. where we met. She had a job at a university, and over the next 20 years I had 4 different industrial jobs within commuting distance. We lived on 1/3 of an acre in a 4 bedroom house where we raised 2 kids. Because we only paid $185,000 for the house, we paid off the mortgage in 7-8 years; I saved a lot for retirement. The schools were good, the cost of living was low, and there is no significant traffic by East Coast standards. Cleveland was about an hour away when I wanted to see a better orchestra, or major league baseball.
It was a great place to raise a family. It's true; if you wish to live a bohemian lifestyle and model your life on "Rent", you need to be living in an over-priced loft with poor plumbing and rats in a big city. I lived in a series of big cities in my 20s; it was fun until it got old and I fell in love and grew up. Recently I moved back to the East coast to make a career change (I also interviewed for teaching jobs in Iowa, but got hired at Rowan), and am happy that I can live in Pitman, New Jersey rather than in an expensive city center.
I drive into Philadelphia (30 min) to be a member of a first class amateur choir; it is easier to find that in a big city. But as I look at the other members of the choir, many of them young people in tiny over-priced urban apartments, I don't envy them.
5
You can find a liberal oasis sprinkled somewhere out there in rural America, mostly in or around college towns. With technology, one can be as connected to the wider world as much as any city dweller is. In fact, just a few decades ago, it was predicted that folks would migrate out of urban areas precisely for that reason.
The cost of living in most rural areas, particularly real estate, is markedly lower than in cities, and many urban aggravations like traffic jams simply don't exist. Though not as plentiful as in metro areas, rewarding jobs do exist.
But the biggest draw of all to life in rural areas is to be immersed daily in nature itself, a joy most city dwellers sadly will never know.
5
My son and his girlfriend live in NYC and find the suburbs boring. They're right. They are boring, and if I had to do it over again, I would not live in the exurbs or suburbs or even a rural area. I've lived in many places due to military and other experience, and I can honestly say, most of them were dull. On the other hand, their dullness may be attractive when you want to buy a home with a yard. So who knows.
1
I think this piece is trying to use statistical cherry picking to show how college educated people shouldn't dismiss rural areas. Of course there are benefits to living in more rural areas, being able to be in nature easily, less stressful lifestyle, less costly, but it also leaves out a lot. For example, what happens when they have kids? Rural areas for the most part don't have either good public schools or the private school choices you have in other areas. More importantly, while you can find like minded people all over, it is it better to be a liberal in a sea of conservatives, or better to be a liberal in a more mixed pool? Do you feel welcomed, or someone feeling like you have to hide?Conservatives are not monolithic either, and in rural areas you are talking areas where the hard right, Trump nation style holds, not live and let live. I live in an area that is conservative, but it is fiscally conservative but socially libertarian/moderate. Just think about people living in places like Nashville or Charlotte, that are pretty progressive, but realizing that the rural areas dominate the state, and imagine then living in a rural area where the hard right, evangelical Christians hold sway. Just think of what happened with LGBT people in Charlotte, where a progressive town was beaten down by rural, evangelicals, and you get the point.
7
From personal experience, having a hip coffee shop or a monthly art series in a rural community does not make up for the oppressive mindset of those content with ultra-conservative religious culture, dominance of commerce by Walmart, or the preoccupation with sports like NASCAR or football. This, to say nothing of the always-visible MAGA - confederate flag crowd. Educated and professional residents survive partly because they have the resources to get away often, much of the time to urban centers like the ones mentioned in this article. Or, lacking the financial resources to travel to expensive coastal or mountain locales, they are forced to surreptitiously burrow in with films about such places on Netflix.
11
Small town people seem bitter toward city people. They blame the cities for their inability to keep up.(socially, economically) Then they blame progress is being forced on them. They don't want to live in the city buy want all the perks. But NO taxes. They want to take tax money from cities to prop up their town. Then they want to cherry pick events as the reason why they won't live there. Remember they just need one story from the past 40 yrs to prove their point. (geez) Trying to live farther away on the cheap and expect costly progress to follow them. Baby boomer entitlement.
8
@Boyd
I always marvel at the blue state residents who vote for big government programs that send money to poorer red state rural areas and then complain about the money that gets spent on, and the ungrateful recipients of, programs that those red state rural residents never voted for. If you were going to complain about spending money on big government programs, why did you ask for those programs in the first place, and why didn't you do it at the state or local level? If you're waiting for rural red state residents to send a big thank you note for a lumbering federal program that poorly spends tax dollars on a program better suited to urban residents than rural ones, don't hold your breath.
1
@Tom Meadowcroft
Again cherry picking programs and thinking someone wants you to thank them. A la carte method cost more. Granted programs should be audited. Gov't Public private partnerships is an open cookie jar. That's more of a concern than food stamps or whatever lumbers for you.
1
High populations contain a diversity of people and ideas. THAT is the draw. You generally don't find diversity in rural areas. I live in a very small college town, in a a farming region, but we are the exception to the rule. If I were a new college graduate, I still wouldn't come here to find a job. All you have to do is look at the voting records of most rural areas to learn that they are very, very parochial. Most well educated people don't want to live like that, unless they are retired, like me.
11
Grew up on LI and left in 1988 since I did not want to pay the outrageous prices for a house. I have lived west of Albany ever since and it is the best decision I ever made. There are many tech jobs available in Albany and the higher education institution where I am employed is having trouble filling 4 open IT positions, from entry to director level. Yes, the pay is less but so is the cost of living and the level of stress. I was down on LI a few weeks ago and can't believe the traffic. I have a 45 mile commute that takes me 50 minutes. I can get to NYC and Boston in about 3.5 hours and Montreal in about 4. After work in the summer, I drive 10 minutes to a beautiful hike on the Long Path with beautiful waterfalls, a great workout and stress reliever. Yes, my neighbor shoots guns and has a confederate flag (I pretty much ignore them) but the rural life is for me.
7
As a 'highly educated' who choose to move to rural upstate New York 25 years ago, I concur with the article, and many of the comments.
There are many opportunities in rural areas, there are other educated people/families associated with schools, hospitals, local governments, there are businesses needing to grow but hobbled by the ability to hire qualified employees, but there is another very important reason: the Electoral College.
A significant influx of educated, enlightened young people into the deepest red America could change the demographics of the country, bring better balance to the growing inequality between popular vote and Electoral college vote.
if young people want to live in a country where their votes matter, where they are governed by a government that reflects their values, the Electoral College advantage of rural America must adjust to the overall changing demographics of the country.
Choose a purple or light red state and move there, in numbers. Colonize the wild frontier!
Be the vote that makes the real difference to the future of this world your children will inhabit.
4
@organic farmer Yes, if just slightly more than 1% of California Democrats moved to, say, Wyoming they could flip the deep Red state to Blue - - and pick up two U.S. Senate seats! Yes, vote with your feet.
1
My first job out of graduate school was in a small town in East Tennessee. I pretty much knew I had a made a mistake within a week. For a highly educated, unmarried woman and Atheist, who was (still is) socially and politically liberal, small town/rural living had nothing to offer. The main drawback was the social conservatism; not only was I (per report from similarly isolated biracial coworker) assumed to be a lesbian, I was treated rudely by at work because of it. Social conservatism cast a long shadow at the psychiatric hospital where I worked, even by professionally educated clinical staff whose job it was to identify and treat presenting problems (depression, anxiety, psychosis, etc) rather than to make moral judgment on contributing factors (marginalization and isolation due to LGBT or HIV status, unusual or underrepresented spiritual or religious practices, or ethnic/racial minority groups). My main source of friendship and support at that time ended up being other people who wanted to leave stayed due to intense ties family and faith-communities, which were one of their sources of rejection and judgment.
In my current job, I visit rural/small town communities; my past experiences are among the reasons many young professionals in my field choose to leave after acquiring needed experience or fulfilling work requirements for loan forgiveness.
15
Having managed both rural and urban economic development programs, let me offer that many dynamics are in play. Costs of living compared to income are one; ability to bring to fruition globally competitive new inventions or business concepts is another that is critically limited in truly "rural" areas - venture capitalists will rarely invest in businesses geographically out of the global economic mainstream where airports, potential customers/rivals in industry clusters, experts in the services required by the business, and globally competitive labor forces exists or can be attracted.
All that means that business growth in rural areas is up against highly attractive cities, which is why there is a persistent "brain drain" around the world from rural and/or impoverished areas.
That said, the author makes good points that rural areas might not be as bad as perceived by professionals and deserve a closer look. But without family ties to a particular rural area, most professionals wanting to leave big urban areas will vote with their feet for smaller urban areas with cultural amenities; my two favorite places to live in my native Colorado, for example, have been Durango and Fort Collins, both with universities that greatly enhanced quality of life.
And as a sustainability advocate, which makes me a liberal, so to speak, I was delighted to land in southeast Portland OR 30 years ago and feel part of a political majority for the first time. Can't put a price on that.
6
The writer doesn’t mention the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of both worlds that is presented by many mid-size cities. Most mid-size cities offer many of the cultural amenities of the major metro areas, with affordable housing, a diversity of employment opportunities, and the ability to have a rural lifestyle, if that is your desire, within a reasonable commute of job centers. The older mid-size cities often have adequate infrastructure, and public transport, that helps keep commutes short, relative to younger and rapidly growing cities that sometimes struggle to keep up with growth.
As a refugee from New York and D.C. metro areas, the biggest amenity I find in Cleveland is the amount of time freed-up by not sitting in traffic when commuting, doing errands, etc. The same is largely true in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Buffalo. Time better spent on family, education, hobbies, exercise, or just relaxation.
3
American Enterprise Institute explains it all. Please visit me in Tennessee Mr. Abrams and I will take you to my state's rural areas. Let's just hope we don't need to use the Internet while there or, God forbid, have an automobile accident and need medical care.
13
When I hear "rural", I think "rural where?". Small towns on the West Coast can be wonderful places. Small town Iowa, not so much.
11
As a Californian I agree to a point. But I would be very reluctant to move in my pending retirement to say, Shasta or Amador counties. The far right political climate would outweigh the slower pace, beauty and affordability. Sigh.
3
I'm not really too sure about this. The amount of opportunities are significantly limited in rural areas - the schools are not as good and there are fewer job opportunities (especially for those with higher education - think engineering or tech jobs). Furthermore, in many cases social attitudes do in fact make it uncomfortable (at best) for non-white or non-christian or non-heterosexual people. As a person of color myself, I face enough racism as it is in a big city - so the idea that I shouldn't dismiss rural America is laughable. In general, people like to be around those they perceive to be as similar, and the evidently at least somewhat true stereotype that rural areas are predominantly WASP areas means that its unlikely for these areas to diversify at all in the near future, especially because there is little incentive for people who do not fit that definition to move there. The lack of jobs requiring higher education and diversity in such areas no doubt discourages even young heterosexual white people from coming to such areas. So, I'd say rural areas still don't seem that great to move to...
11
Thank you. I have a graduate degree and spent nearly a decade working in Manhattan; now we live in a small town in a semi-rural area and you couldn't pay me to ever return to a city, especially with kids.
I grew up in the country in the Midwest and it was a wonderful childhood. No, where I grew up didn't have the Met or Broadway, but it had forests to play in, lakes to swim and boat on, close and multi-generational friendships between families, safety, and everything that can make childhood wonderful.
Because of my rural upbringing, I know the liberation of finding joy in small and simple things. I know that the crass stereotypes about "flyover country" are exactly that - crass stereotypes.
I love living in rural New England now. I think New England has the best of both worlds; easy access to good cities when you want it, quiet forests and country, good schools, and ideologically diverse neighbors.
5
I'd love to live in a more rural area. I don't really need what the city offers, and spend most of my free time doing things you can do in a rural area- I love riding horses.
The downside is that I can't find a job in a rural area that would pay me enough to continue to ride. I even have cash for a house. But the jobs are either in healthcare, education or pay $10-$15 an hour. Sure the cost of living is lower, but $25,000 to $35,000 a year won't pay all my bills and save for a retirement.
4
How does this square with the decades-long complaints of small-town leaders that young people leave their communities because of a lack of jobs?
8
Can only speak from my personal experience, but hope to add more nuance to the conversation. I’m a millennial who was born, raised, and returned to NYC for grad school. I’m currently living and teaching elementary school in rural Maine. I loved living and teaching in NYC (South Bronx and Crown Heights) for many of the reasons stated by other commenters, but the rat race is stressful and the cost of living is really high. Why live somewhere if you rarely get to enjoy all the amazing things a place has to offer?
Our country is large and diverse, and my experience living in a rural community is really different from what other commenters are describing.
I currently make less money teaching, but the upgrade in quality of life is
completely worth it. Where I live now is much more affordable (whole house for the cost of a Manhattan studio), food quality is exceptional, and our closeness/dependency on the land fosters a greater appreciation and awareness about taking care of the environment. Can no longer hop the subway to the Met, but we do have easy access to museums, theaters, and colleges within an hour’s drive. Racial diversity is still lacking here (and people absolutely lose out because they aren’t exposed to different perspectives). I’m optimistic this will change in the right direction.
Just one person’s perspective... but we live in a big and diverse country. Worth exploring and dialoguing with others to combat the current toxic polarization of our nation.
9
@Jenny Gold
New England remains a popular choice for writers for a reason--its natural beauty, complement of seasons, and seclusion.
Small town and rural New England is not what people first think of when they encounter the rubric "rural America."
7
Here’s the thing:
We live in a bucolic rural community with two boarding schools, a nearby primary care hospital, a movie theater, a decent grocery store, and many amenities.
No one wants to move here except those from NYC who wish to purchase second homes and the families of the prep- school kids. Once in awhile a wealthy one-income family or a trust fund family will call us home, but very few solidly middle-class folks with college degrees.
Why:
Two reasons..., Professional well-paying jobs for a spouse are non-existent. And most doctors will not come to the hospital or administrators to the schools without that guarantee.
Two: Here the price of decent real estate is quite high.
So...why bother when you can go to a place where both spouses can be gainfully employed without a monumental commute and they can buy an apartment or house with two significant incomes?
It’s just not possible in a rural community without at least one half of the equation becoming brain dead. Believe me, we find it next to impossible to recruit good people to our idyllic area.
6
I was thinking about this the other day after reading the Times' story on Winston-Salem and the Washington Post's story on Bakersfield--small cities, but by no means rural. Thanks to TV and social media, young people see the amenities and activities in large cities--San Francisco, NYC, LA, Chicago etc.--and they want those amenities too. But smaller cities are too small to support those amenities and activities. It would be even worse in rural areas. Who wants to voluntarily move somewhere where you can't go to the coffeehouse, enjoy a good play, see live bands, hang out at the local brewery, and so forth? I've lived in small cities, and although I'm way beyond young-college-graduate age, I would not go back to a small city. It would be boring.
5
This article ignores differences by gender. All the research about educated professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. show that single women don't want to go to rural areas. If they do go, they don't stay. They are looking for partners who are similarly educated, or at least who are willing to accept them as educated professionals. That can be hard to find, especially in very religious communities where women are supposed to "know their place". With women now making up the majority of educated professionals in this country, any workforce policy needs to consider the effects of gender.
416
@tr, as well, too much of rural law enforcement is notorious for not taking crimes against women (most notably domestic violence and rape) seriously. That plus a “keep in your place” attitude is reason enough to avoid these areas.
47
@tr Having moved to a beautiful rural area as a single adult woman, I can tell you that my neighbors, especially the female ones, were close-minded and not welcoming if you were educated and not attached to a man. It was like they were so afraid that I might try to take one of their husbands away...I mean really, these were nice guys but no prize. The day my truck was loading to move me back to the city, one female neighbor said to me, "There are no jobs for you here, no men for you here, it's good you're leaving." The same woman sat in my living room and called Obama a "nappy-headed jungle bunny."
I miss the landscape but I surely do not miss the petty ignorance of the people who live there.
39
@tr
You are right on target!!!! Living in "the hills" the rural areas, whatever!!!! and listening to the grass grow, and watching the moon and sgtarts is not enlightening, it is dull and boring!!! Perhaps, maybe a short vacation once in a while to the "outer lands" could be refreshing but from experience, living there, seeking enlightenment, a varietyt of music, foods, experience jobs, and trying to have a refreshing conversation,( I found most folks did not read, had no knowledge of James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, John Coltrance, Miles Davis, and thought all Black people were from Africa??? Africa???) "they all look alike attitude" and "knowing my Place?, I have never know my place!!! And I don't planning on learing where it is at this late date!!! in my life and dliving! I am not ready for the grave!!!!!
10
First, let's consider the source: "conducted by the American Enterprise Institute." Yup, when you ask a conservative group a question, you're likely to get a conservative answer. Secondly, the data does NOT distinguish between people who remained rural residents but got educated and were able to create professionally successful and fulfilling lives, versus newcomers with no local ties at all. In my experience rural folks are more insular and not open to strangers.
14
Why does the author assume that it is only economic and social success that draws young people to cities rather than rural areas? Maybe they just like the idea of being able to walk to a store or two rather than having to drive everywhere. Maybe they like the idea of being able to take in classical music, or a play, or a museum. Maybe they want to eventually have kids, and can't find many rural areas that offer a good school system. The very reason some places develop into cities and some places stay rural is that job markets are markets: Cities are job markets that have more to offer their customers (i.e., potential employees). If rural communities offered opportunities that young people were looking for, they'd be moving there.
395
@Jeff
Maybe. And maybe people like to play outdoors everyday. Maybe hike, or ski, or bike anytime a free hour or three come along, after work or on weekends, instead of waiting for a vacation break and hours of travel. And the same goes for raising kids and access to structured and unstructured play. Your cultural bias might be showing.
ps. Would you rather see a well know musician or speaker in a crowd of 10,000 or 500?
18
@Bob Krantz Missing my point. What I personally like is irrelevant. I’m not arguing that rural areas have nothing to offer. I’ve lived in rural as well as urban areas and found things I like in both places. I’m arguing that cities, by their nature, are able to offer a more diverse portfolio of goods and services to more people. Young people aren’t avoiding moving to rural areas for ideological reasons. They’re making rational economic decisions about what they want to be able to trade in a free market in exchange for their knowledge and skills.
78
@Bob Krantz A question about your PS: How many "well know musician or speaker" go to places that can only guarantee an audience of 500? We live near Philadelphia. I have access to hiking, biking and historic sites all around me and skiing within an hours drive. The ocean is an hour away. I also am within 30 miles of world class art museums, science museums, orchestra, ballet. Restaurants with cuisine from around the world abound in Philadelphia. Plus lots of hospitals, an abundance of retail, an international airport...I am always amazed at the huge difference in available attractions in small towns- even College towns. Different people want different lifestyles- you like where you live and I like where I live. That's NOT cultural bias- it's just reality.
65
I grew up in a very small town with a population of just over 900. That town and the towns around it contained more dynamism than you would expect, but it was and is certainly a challenge to find work there, and it takes years to crack the social code. I would not recommend it for most people with a good education who want a conventional career path.
5
I live in a town of 4,700 people. There is nothing here but churches, beer bars that sell nothing but Budweiser and Coors, and some fast food joints out on the highway. There's no public land to hike or bike on. The scenery is flat and dried out. There are also no jobs.
It wasn't so bad in Utah because the landscape is beautiful and there is lots of public land to hike, raft, and bike on. But in Oklahoma, not so much. There's really nothing to do unless you want to drink mass produced beer.
499
@Linda
And all 77 Oklahoma counties have voted for the Rebulican Presidential candidate since 2004.
Not a single county voted D since 2000.
What diversity!
67
@Linda
A white female schoolteacher once described Maui in similar terms. Apparently, culture there meant going to the beach and flipping open a Bud.
To make matters worse, she was made to feel like an outsider by the "natives" (Filipinos).
3
@Linda
Linda, I've always wondered why you stay in Oklahoma. Could you explain in some future post?
Your comments are always superb.
22
Ok, Professor Abrams, why don’t you lead the way and move from Sarah Lawrence to, say, University of Tulsa, a similar liberal arts institution, but in the heartland? I suspect that someone affiliated with AEI would feel right at home in Oklahoma’s political culture.
I came to Oklahoma in 1982 from Los Angeles. And on the whole, what Professor Abrams writes is true of me as well. The university was a good place to pursue my career, and Norman is a small town with relatively good schools for our children. We have formed friendships with colleagues and others, and while Oklahoma is a conservative state, there are certainly people with my political and social views who have become good friends.
Still, there are things that I miss. There is music and art here, but it’s not the Getty or the Met. Our children have moved out of state, because one has found that while there are high tech jobs here, they are not as challenging as those in hubs like Seattle or the Bay Area. The other is on the east coast because museums are larger and more prestigious than anything we have here. One is gay, and while Oklahoma has become more accepting, it still has a long way to go.
But for me, the single most depressing thing about living here is the realization that while I may have politically liberal friends, there aren’t enough of us to elect a congressional representative or senators whose ideas are similar. That doesn’t look like it will change any time soon. And that is deeply frustrating.
594
@Ockham9
Living in north Idaho for 29 years, I share your frustrations. That's why I'm moving to Arcata CA. I can't wait to not be in the political minority.
102
@Ockham9 I grew up in Oklahoma but spent much of my adult life living overseas. We now live in Austin, TX and I like the liberal atmosphere, but unfortunately the state is so gerrymandered that Austin is split into 5 congressional districts that run all the way to Ft. Worth-where my representative, Roger Williams(Rep) lives. Austin is the largest US city without an anchor representative in Congress. Out of the 5, only one is a democrat. Flipping the other 4 districts will be impossible without redrawing the districts. We cannot even get our representative to show up at a town hall meeting in Austin. If he does have one in our area, you have to be a supporter to attend. It is really frustrating to feel like you don't have a voice. I feel your pain.
121
@Ockham9 I live in Ithaca NY, a liberal enclave in a conservative rural area. I often have the opposite frustration from yours. Because we already have liberal elected representatives, there is nothing I can do in electoral politics to change the current conservative dominance. You think you can't win elections so you can't change things. I know I can win elections, but that also won't change things.
18
Rural America dismissed college graduates long ago.
I'm originally from a large midwestern city. There's no way I would move back to the state from which I come. The Republican, gerrymandered state legislators have cut taxes to the point that there's no basic services in over half the counties, no primary physician, few rural hospitals, and the schools are falling apart. All the while state legislators are pushing to teach
"creationism" (code for Christianity as the state religion), and because gun laws are so loose, you never know which one of your MAGA hat-wearing neighbors may just pull out a handgun and shoot.
Right wing groups like American Enterprise Institute are partially responsible for this mess.
21
As a recent college grad who grew up in Wisconsin in a town of 200 people and now lives in San Francisco, I feel like this piece is idealistic. It seems that the majority of college degree level jobs in small towns are in healthcare or education. It is hard to find small towns with finance or engineering economies.
The part about "satisfaction with their communities" is skewed. The people who return to small communities do so because they have ties there already-- a college grad is unlikely to choose a random small community to settle down in.
College grads move to the places with the most opportunity for their personal and professional growth. History has shown that that place is in big cities.
523
@Elizabeth I've ended up in a small town with no family connections. I enjoy it for the most part, but after 5 years it still doesn't feel 100% like home. I suppose that will change as my daughter grows and she becomes a more targeted way for me to enter the community. But I shop here, volunteer, go to classes, go to the parks and art gallery.
Part of what makes it difficult is that this is not a college town based on a university system so the general populace is not college educated. That is a huge cultural barrier, especially if you're scientifically minded, and can make settling in rural areas difficult and lonely. It's easy to make acquaintances of all kinds, it's harder to find real friends. I think that part goes even deeper than the job opportunities.
95
@Elizabeth The whole of the people commenting on this agree with you; the subject is a nicely written farce. Let's face it, the rural areas did not remain rural because they allowed growth and variety, they stayed rural because they did NOT! The backwood places stimy growth causing them to lose population, not increase it.
Another point of issue, it takes a balanced community for all to be at ease and feel secure, in these rural community, they have poverty like you do not want to believe still exist if you walk across he tracks. And heaven forbid you should have ideas of race mixing. You can spend a week there on a Saturday morning, any Saturday morning, watching cars rust.
35
@Elizabeth
The American Enterprise Institute is a conservative organization.
Rural America is in a death spiral.
Between the young people leaving, and large businesses like Walmart and Amazon cannibalizing mom and pop retail operations all over America, small towns are hollowing out.
I suspect that Republicans must be in a panic about that minor detail, because their "base" is getting its brains knocked out economically, and is thinning out.
77
Generalizations. Which rural communities and how remote? Gays, lesbians and trans will have a hard time finding a community and an easy time finding rejection.
Try to find a mosque in a typical rural community.
Try looking for a job as an aeronautical engineer.
Rural works best if you're straight, married, Christian and Republican. Otherwise, not so much.
657
@Deborah Fink
You are absolutely right, rural areas are hardly noted for their diversity, social life, cultural institutions and high-paying jobs.
Indeed, the author of this article is guilty of not practicing what he preaches. It turns out he is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (Washington, DC), a professor at Sarah Lawrence College (30 minute drive or train ride from NYC), and a faculty fellow at New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research (New York City).
As for the many small (and possibly insignificant) percentage differences the author points out, it is worth noting that the study to which he refers (and of which he was lead author) is based on 2,411 completed interviews (32.8% response rate), an average of perhaps 50 persons per state, not exactly compelling numbers on which to base a life decision to choose the boondocks over NYC, DC and all the other major cities to which college graduates are inexorably drawn.
And, by the way, most young people graduating from college are single, and hardly likely to be drawn to rural areas and small cities, where the nightlife and numbers of other young, college-educated singles are quite limited.
86
@Deborah Fink The title of this article should be “Hey College Graduates, Do As I Say, Not As I Do.”
The author urges college graduates to move to rural areas, where life isn’t as bad as many think. However, it turns out he is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (Washington, DC), a professor at Sarah Lawrence College (30 minute drive or train ride from NYC), and a faculty fellow at New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research (New York City). Do as I say, indeed.
As for the many small (and possibly insignificant) percentage differences the author points out, it is worth noting that the study to which the author refers (and of which he was lead author) is based on 2,411 completed interviews (32.8% response rate), an average of perhaps 50 persons per state, not exactly compelling numbers on which to base a life decision to choose the boondocks over NYC, DC and all the other major cities to which college graduates are inexorably drawn.
And, by the way, most young people graduating from college are single, and hardly likely to be drawn to rural areas and small cities, where the nightlife and numbers of other young, college-educated singles are quite limited.
20
@Deborah Fink i am straight, white, married, and mostly republican (until recently) and rural does not work for me for the reasons you mention.
34
What you don’t mention is health care. Get really sick - really sick in rural America today and you may find the care you need hours away for you or your children. One bout of cancer will have you moving toward good cancer centers, all in cities. We need to change this and from what I’ve read in the NYT we are loosing our rural hospitals.
11
Having grown up in Orange county Calif you couldn't give me a house in a big city now. They're fun to visit. But once you live in tiny towns it's nearly impossible to imagine ever going back to the expensive hive lifestyle. But hey, to each their own. If we convince the cities to empty out into rural America we won't have rural America any longer will we? Part of the wonder of tiny towns is that they are isolated and quiet and spacious.
28
@Donna V
Where in Orange County is there an isolated, quiet, and small town? I grew up there. It's Disneyland and I-5 the whole way. I don't think there's a single square acre of Orange County that would qualify as "rural".
4
@Donna V
Orange county rural? In what universe.
2
@Jared vdH When I grew up outside San Bernardino in the 50s I loved Orange County. Orange County is where we went to Knott's Berry Farm, the original model for Disneyland. I do remember the heavy traffic getting there, I-5 wasn't built for another 20 years. And there were no longer any orange groves in Orange County like in San Bernardino and Riverside counties; mostly they grew subdivisions there. We never went to Disneyland itself since it was too new and expensive. Knott's Berry Farm also still grew and processed a few berries at that time. But that was just an attraction to draw people in, not really a profit center for the theme park operation. Maybe Donna grew up in the 30s when Orange County actually still had a rural economy.
1
Here is my advice -
1. Go where the opportunities are and explore the world. It will make you a better global citizen.
2. For your industry, you need to be located in a hub or create a new hub. If you are in AgriTech then there is no point living in Manhattan. If you are in Finance then there is no point living in Montana.
3. Don't create roots too early. Move around a bit before you decide to plant some roots.
Thats it!
5
But rural America put Donald Trump in the white house!
Having said that, I guess we should view urban, multi-cultural, and open-minded city mice moving to rural communities as a kind of necessary commitment to civilizing their country cousins.
5
This article cracks me up. Dr. Abrams' Sarah Lawrence is 15 miles north of Manhattan.
College graduate aren't dismissing rural America because they're uninformed; rather, they're very well informed about life in the country.
7
I moved to a small town just out of college in 1981. In no way whatsoever was I accepted. As a college educated white woman I was treated like a freak. Even today I think most small towns would be accepting only of a straight white male and only then if he went to the right church. There are good reasons well educated people don't go to small towns.
16
Culture, diversity, walkability and privacy...I don't see those happening in non-urban America.
10
The survey is meaningless because it is surveying people who have already self selected to live in the country.
7
Hey, this is a thought-provoking article worth going into more depth. When you say "consider living beyond a select group of urban areas," does that really mean consider living in farmland (100 miles west of Topeka Kansas say) or rather consider the second tier cities? eg Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Jacksonville - which still have NFL teams, the 3rd tier cities (Topeka, Billings, Fargo, Harrisburg, Lincoln Nebraska). The implications for each are likely quite different.
As far as rural areas go:
- no movie theaters
- shops are few and far between (driving 25 miles to get to a supermarket)
- few people to date or socialize with
- satellite TV but no hard-wired, high speed internet
Hard to see how that could be attractive to anyone starting out. While rural areas have healthcare needs, recent medical school graduates are understandably reluctant to sign up for them.
I know people who spent antarctic summer in the South Pole which one could classify as a rural area. The people who winter over there, signing up for that isolation, have the same benefits you mention as for residents of rural areas (they get to know their neighbors very well even though there's not much to do besides work)
4
Two of the biggest problems in the US, as in similar developed countries, is the delay of marriage and the decline of total fertility rates (which are needed to support the public liabilities).
From the perspective of the young person, a city is a little bit like what used to be called a "singles' bar." There are many places to meet, eat, drink, many people to date; in general it's the best place to find your partner. Once you are happily attached, you can (if you so desire) cash out your winnings and move out to the suburbs or the countryside for its cheaper real estate or more orderly public schools.
When it comes to the ultimate decision, the final calculation will probably imperfectly follow the hated "rational actor" model: Where can I go that my earnings will most exceed my expenses?
3
@CK. I can't imagine raising children in the rural/small town communities that I visit for work in my state. They'd have little day to day exposure to educational, social, cultural, and recreational opportunities that they'd need to successfully navigate adulthood in the mid 21st century. The ones I visit are near total car dependent, lacking infrastructure and development that allows children to safety get around on foot or bicycle independently or with friends.
2
The author is correct but only in a very narrow way.
Vermont is the most rural state in the nation.
It is also one of the top 5 most progressive states.
The county I live in has plenty of jobs, tons of public space, voted democratic in the last 7 presidential elections at least,
is home to the first trans person to run for governor of a state (she was defeated by our Republican governor, who incidentally is pro-choice, signed into law new gun control measures, and would be considered a liberal democrat in any state south of New Jersey)
and this county has a grand total of 5 traffic signals.
I can be in Burlington in an hour and Stowe Vermont is actually in this county.
My internet provider has service speeds much faster than those available to friends of mine near L.A.
I can do a 2 mile walk from my house down a dirt road with mountain views past 4 different organic dairy and goat farms.
I pay less for my mortgage than someone in the Boston area would pay to share a one bedroom apartment.
I was born in Missouri and I can tell you that small towns there are very different. It is small town New England that you want!
This is especially a good place for someone with a good paying job. It does not help to live near Stowe if you cannot afford to ski or go out to dinner. It is professionals that should move here!
Did I mention that it will be 72 degrees today? Time to go for that walk now....
8
@Brother Shuyun. Exactly! If I lived in Wakefield, RI I could bike nearly anywhere in Narragansett County save when there is snow on the ground and there is plenty to see and do. If I need more, I can take Amtrak to major nearby major cities like Providence or Boston for the symphony, museums, or major medical concerns. Very different experience if you are living in rural Kentucky or Arizona where rent may be cheaper but the "cost of living" is steep in many other ways, particularly for people with disabilities, LGBTQ status, or ethnic/religious minorities.
1
@Brother Shuyun Yes, beautiful, progressive Vermont, where rural gun owners feel no need to go to Chuckee Cheese and scare the children with their AK-47s. A rural state with a brain.
2
If your idea of a nice life is being tied down to a house, beholden to a car, frequent power outages, poor water pressure, lousy restaurants, and surrounded by gun toting-bible thumper-Trumpster neighbors, then by all means go to the country.
12
@Bill S.
I love being "tied down" to my house and my garden, and the ease of being able to just hop in my car to get anywhere I need to go in under ten minutes of lovely country roads. And I love walking those country roads without smelling constant traffic or having to stop for streetlights. I don't miss the hassle of city life at all. Who wants to walk everywhere with three kids?
We have great restaurants in our little village, and I'm surrounded by neighbors with a wide range of political opinions.
All the above was true of my hometown in the midwest as well as my current town in Connecticut.
1
@Bill S. When I moved to Johnson City, TN in the early 90's for a job, on the first day of work I was told of nearby small town I should avoid driving through at night and that I avoid every using a rural driveway to back up and turn around if lost as the gun-toting culture feared strangers and had a shoot first, ask questions later mentality.
4
We moved to the country because instead of living in a tiny space for an exorbitant amount of money in NYC, we have a beautiful house and barn, nature and peace and quiet. We eat healthy foods from neighboring farms and have benefited from that. Peace and quiet and privacy you can’t get that in the city. No regrets here. If we need city we are not too far by car or train for a quick visit to enjoy culture and restaurants. Wish we had done it sooner.
1
A little background: I was that recent college graduate that moved to a small town, 43 years ago. Actually, moved there 2 days after graduation. I grew up in the NY metro area ( college in Manhattan ) and Long Island.
I worked for a global farm equipment company and traveled half the time. My job was to develop the dealer computer systems and data networks for over 1400 farm equipment dealerships across every state in America. I have seen rural small town America, extensively.
Why I like and stay where I live.... the close proximity to two medium sized cities, so I could easily get to arts, entertainment, ethnic foods, excellent healthcare, etc..... I also love the green countryside but have everything the cities can offer less than 10 miles away.
As to " becoming part of a small town " , forget it. All the negative comments expressed here about small towns in the other posts are pretty much true.
Now, to the most important part for the new college graduate, your future. The economy is rapidly moving towards the cities. It is not going to go back to rural America. If you move to a small town, there is a very high probability of negatively impacting your economic future.
So if it were me, I would stay away from any rural small towns. I would look for the best of both worlds and that means not getting too far from a city.
My message to any college graduate that's considering moving to a small town, don't do it.
8
This article seems extremely tone deaf. While it's cute that I can find the one in five liberals like me in my rural community, whats not cute is living in a state/area with a GOP dominated legislature that makes the area only inhabitable by straight, white, Christian Republicans.
13
What if I don't want a life dominated by Wal-Mart and driving a car everywhere?
14
@Zac Laura You say car like it's a dirty word. I can be anywhere in 10-15 minutes in my car and do not have to deal with a disgusting subway. The price people pay for subways (rent premium) far exceed the cost of a car.
1
The one thing that makes big cities places to be is there will never be a Trump rally in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Philadelphia, Denver, etc. The people at his rallies are there because they are bored out of their minds or they wouldn't spend hours waiting on line to hear the nonsense that spews from Trump's garbage-filled mouth. Or proudly wear their MAGA hats and t-shirts and scream and yell for a man who is destroying the country every chance he gets, a country the rally attendees supposedly love. Who helped his rich friends to bundles of tax cuts and really will never create one coal mining job or any job that does not involve destroying some part of the beauty that is America. Stick to cities where Trump is not likely to visit and enjoy life. You can vacation anywhere in this great country but you want to get in and out before Trump arranges a rally and hordes of people with too much time on their hands get in line to hear his meaningless babble and waste hours of their lives. Wikipedia has a full list of cities where Trump holds rallies so you can easily avoid them and enjoy life. PS: I've lived in New York, Chicago, LA, Toronto CA and London England so I admit to liking city life.
14
I have seen polls that show that Millennials and Gen Z are more likely than previous generations to be some flavor of LGBT. That may play a significant role in their reluctance to move to rural areas, particularly for trans people like myself. There are liberal pockets, and liberal small cities (Burlington, VT leaps to mind), but for me, vast parts of the US map are marked “here be dragons”.
10
Why any educated person with options for his or her future choose to live in a rural town is beyond me. Inheriting the family ranch on a huge acreage is one thing, trying to start a life with little besides your brains is another.
Not to mention all the MAGA hats and half rusted pickup trucks. A diverse urban environment for young well educated people is best. And that is why they ‘vote with their feet’ and have no wish to ‘go back where they came from’.
11
I escaped from a rural area to the military in 1966 and returned in 1972. After getting a 4 yr. degree I left again because there were few jobs and the people were growing more conservative and bitter. Over the years I have gone back to my home town and the region. My observation was that job opportunities were limited to the prison industry, healthcare, education (k-12/college), and the government. Unless you have a professional degree salary and job growth remains limited.
When I read something that does not match well with my observations or what I had previously read I check out the author of the opinion. That said, Mr. Abrams is professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Sarah Lawrence College is a private college located just outside NYC — hardly what many would consider rural America. The American Enterprise Institute is a right leaning think tank funded by conservatives. I cannot help but wonder if Mr. Abrams' opinion was commissioned to help repopulate a shrinking conservative rural America.
That said, I do not question Mr. Abrams' statistics or survey data. What I do question is why not direct young people to small and midsize cities where there is a rich blend of job opportunities and often a cultural and political diversity that can accommodate most life styles.
19
I'd like to get this guy in a room with Professor Scott Galloway of NYU Stern. In an insightful interview on where he literally discusses happiness and economic well-being on Bloomberg's Masters in Business with Barry Ritholtz, he mentions two must-do's for young people:
1. Get credentialed. It could be a an undergraduate degree, a truck driver's license, etc. Get something that indicates that you can do something.
2. Move to a city. 2/3rds of future economic growth in the US within 20 to 30 years is anticipated to occur in America's top 20 cities.
Meanwhile, as The Times' own Paul Krugman has pointed out, the forward looking evidence points to a continuous cratering of rural America. (Opinion: Getting Real About Rural America, Nobody knows how to reverse the heartland’s decline)
Therein lies what appears to be a major problem with Professor Abrams' advice. It is not particularly forward looking, and appears to rely more on sentiment than objective reality.
12
And yet those dead or dying states all have two senators, just like the states with metro growth areas. Thus they drive our national train; in the metaphorical sense, they are driving the USA right off a cliff. I know this is not what our founders believed they were setting up. The constitutional convention took place in Philadelphia --a city big for its time, not some small-minded rural outpost in South Carolina.
1
Professor Abrams, Sarah Lawrence is in Bronxville, NY -- one of the most affluent suburbs in the world and a 15 minute train ride to NYC. If your so bullish on rural America, why not give it a whirl and spend a sabbatical year in small mid-western or Southern Town? And then write a book about the experience.
20
There's a lot of different types of rural communities. I recently moved from a large city to a very small, conservative, isolated rural area, where I live about a 15 minute drive from a town of 300 with one store. It's incredibly lonely out here, and while there are plenty of people I get along with, the culture is just too stifling and different for me to be happy here long term. And yes, I live in a district that went %90 for Trump, and as soon as people find out that I have different political views they often lose their minds and start treating me very differently.
But the move has taught me that I can handle living without 25 restaurants and coffee shops within walking distance, and there are plenty of diverse, quirky, and interesting rural areas that I'm more open to moving to now.
4
You don’t have to leave that rural community, but it sure feels good to leave, and take your technology skills or artistry with you when you’re ostracized, bullied and unwelcome. The “rural” economic crisis is self-inflicted, why stay when you can go to a coast and be generally accepted for being who you are or what you can do?
12
I have lived in a rural area for 22 years and I have found it to be a homogeneously conservative, isolated and unpleasant place.
College graduates go to a city with diversity, great public transportation, close to a major airport, with excellent healthcare and with lots of things to do.
Avoid the horrible religiosity, ignorance and conservatism of rural America.
A high paying job in a small community may seem like a good idea but money is not worth it - avoid golden hand cuffs!!!
11
A geologist with whom I play tennis lives in a large, converted ambulance. He is a single gay man who travels where he pleases, all over Australia, following the seasonal weather. Since rocks are ubiquitous, he finds consulting work almost anywhere. Another friend is a travelling pharmacist, who finds work in country towns when regular pharmacists are on vacation. Such migratory folk ("grey nomads") live happily, usefully, and profitably in rural Australia. They may "vacation" in big cities, for dining and entertainment, but the geologist with his telescope also delights in the dazzling night sky out in "the bush."
7
The dominant demographic in rural areas is white evangelical Trump voters, maybe that’s why people don’t want to live there. It’s certainly why I don’t.
7
I lived in a very rural area for a solid ten years and grew up in the country. There are EXCELLENT reasons why liberals DON'T return. It's not just politics:
* Everything is vastly more expensive. Housing is expensive, often in poor condition, hard to find. Utilities are more expensive. There is typically only a single provider. Cell service has a single provider--it's OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive--often 4 to 5 TIMES the cost city dwellers pay. Gas. Electric. You name it, more expensive. Single provider.
* Cable and Internet are simply UNAVAILABLE. Internet and TV at the speed and quality that city dwellers take for granted is patently unavailable in small towns. Rural areas half hour from major metro areas these necessities are completely unavailable. This is a major disaster from an economic standpoint. This makes doing business completely IMPOSSIBLE. Forget homework. Forget going to university from home. Forget running a business. Forget streaming TV. Forget streaming voice. Forget gaming. Forget modern life.
* People who LEFT rural areas to come to cities left the narrow-minded nonsense, the racial hatred, the disgusting anti-semitism, homophobia, transphobia, and every other sort of hatred and misery. They left for a REASON.
I loved the country and I was sad to leave. It was beautiful. I loved my historic home. I loved the safe schools. I liked my immediate neighbors. But I didn't like the narrow minds. I am not too stupid to know where I'm not wanted.
14
So. Product design, CNC machining, CAD, graphics programs, and fluent in Japanese. Yes, John Deere might like this. My son could design better seats for tractors, but who needs tractor drivers any more. My son could be a liaison between Deere and Japanese customers, but the world belongs to China. Or my son could work in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, NYC or Osaka, doing what he trained to do - design furniture and lighting. I can’t imagine him in Ames or Moline.
6
This absolute nonsense.
We have lived in non metro WI for close to forty years.
If you look at a map of WI state and color counties red that voted for Trump you will see a sea of red excluding in WI Madison, Milwaukee and a few non metro counties that have a four year university. A very similar situation is seen in MN.
I am a retired physician and my wife is a retired nurse. The medical clinic here is very large and sophisticated but unless you are a medical professional there is a dearth of jobs for young people with advanced degrees. And if you are not a racist, xenophobic, homophobic and misogynist you are in a minority. Because that is what Trump voters are.
Our children, the children of my colleagues and the friends of our children all live in metro areas after they graduated from university and graduate school. The three exceptions who returned are in medicine.
16
@Edward B. Blau
40 years of misery. Why haven't you moved?
1
@Edward B. Blau In our "actually rural" county there are plenty of health care jobs for professional degree holders. Of course, a CNA changing diapers in a nursing home is considered a professional degree here.
2
Good luck if don’t want to drive everywhere.
4
Young women gravitate to cities.
Young men follow them.
Hasn’t it always been thus?
3
There is a large country between the coasts. Explore it, you might be surprised how nice it is.
1
@Michael J
There is a huge country between the coasts, but some great great cities, like Chicago, and some very nice smaller cities like like Columbus, OH, and my home, Oklahoma City,
Get out of the cities, though, and it’s a whole different world. I love newly revitalized OKC, but there is no way I’d live in small town Oklahoma. The people are mostly as small mined as their towns.
5
Written to cheer the hearts of small city Chambers of Commerce.
5
Because it is not defined in the article, I don't know what the author defines as rural. I've lived in small towns and large cities and have found what I think is the perfect mix in a smaller city with a university and small but thriving medical and tech sectors.
I have lived in Bozeman, MT; Bellingham, WA; and now Eau Claire, WI, all small(ish) towns with universities (and all fantastic places to live), and I have lived in small towns that lack an institute of higher education.
In my hometown of Eau Claire, there is a thriving arts community, thoughtful urban planning, and many spaces where intellectual conversations are the norm. The public schools are good. There is growing cultural and racial diversity and a respect for the importance of that. Perfect? No. But pretty nice and the future is bright. The same cannot be said of the surrounding small towns.
I love my easy commute and relatively low cost of living, but a community of educated people is essential to my sanity. For me, a university is the deciding factor between settling down in a small town or just passing through.
7
@Stephen Wisner /eau claire is not rural, kiddo
1
@Ken Artis As I said, I don't know where the rural/urban divide is since it isn't defined. While Eau Claire might seem urban compared to Black River, it sure seems like a small town compared to an actual large urban area. When I think of a big city, Eau Claire certainly doesn't come to mind. So I don't know exactly what qualifies as rural, but I do know I'm not your kiddo, Ken.
1
Rural areas aren't absolutely more conservative, professionally limiting, and socially constrained. On a relative basis though, rural areas are more conservative, more professionally limited, and more socially constrained than even small or midsize cities. I spent 5 years living in upstate New York. We were lucky compared to most of rural America. Rural America is not a place you want to be.
This article also misses the biggest advantage of cities over country: Quality of life. My family in rural Virginia would drive one hour each way to the grocery store. Sure, they had jobs. But who wants to plan life around driving everywhere? Good luck finding anything to do on a Friday night either. You'll know every single person within your dating bracket in about 15 seconds.
Big name bands will never come through town. You'll struggle to find quality products. Chances are you'll struggle to find high speed internet first. The town is going to feel like a fifth grade classroom in less than a year. You'll know everyone but that doesn't mean you'll like everyone you know. There is absolutely zero sense of anonymity. And the place is boring. I'm sorry but it is.
To any young adult considering rural America: Don't do it. The decision doesn't make any sense unless you're moving there for a very specific geographical feature. Like rock for rock climbing. Mountains for skiing. Waves for surfing. You name it. Otherwise, stay away. Stay very far away.
13
@Andy
I live in upstate NY and agree with you. Previously I had lived in NYC and as I got older, I needed a change of pace. I could not imagine the younger me living here.
5
@Andy +1. I grew up in a small university town (Bloomington IN) but have lived in cities my adult life (Chicago, Dallas, LA, Hong Kong). Perhaps not professionally or socially constrained (and your money may go a lot further) the percentages are not with you. There is a big difference between 1% of the local population sharing your priorities and 10% ... you will work much harder to make a life for yourself in rural America and you will be inundated with the failure of those around you who can't live and work anyplace else.
4
If I'm reading this right, in rural America you can a) work in healthcare b) work in a corporate IT department or c) "Consult," that catch-all career. I guess you could also teach, or embark on another public-service career. But what if you want a PR job or a journalism job or you want to learn restaurants from the ground up? What if you're interested in museum management or tourism or teaching yoga? What if you want a job as a trash collector, but you want it to be a unionized job? What if you want to be a well-paid court reporter or crossing guard or subway driver? What if you want to be a statistician or mathematician or financial manager? Saying that you can live well in rural America because you can work in healthcare or IT seems to be willfully disregarding the fact that while healthcare and IT are hot fields, most Americans don't work in healthcare or IT.
10
This is bogus. It is not so much rural versus urban, as it is backward versus forward. Some urban areas are backward, and some rural areas are forward looking.
1
A lot of college grads live in exurbs in Michigan, do quite well and many even voted for Trump. These people end to live not too far from a city , hospital or major employment zone.
Michigan is now 35th in income, and 35th in college grads despite dozens fo fine Universities, and cannot even fix the roads due to gerrymandered districts. Rural politicians, from crumbling towns and communities, above all else resist paying for anything with taxation. Hence, the nations worst roads.
The rural (Mississippi model) is abysmal. Luckily there's Fox News and they bask in the thought they are doing better than city dwellers somewhere.
9
Rather than rely on aggregated statistics from a right-wing think tank whose motives perhaps include normalizing notions of "very fine people on both sides," I invite Professor Abrams to spend a year or two in any rural community in the Deep South or the Rust Belt, conducting self-funded independent research on monolithic thinking and economic opportunity in the Age of Trump. Then disabuse us with findings open arms and open minds. That any accomplished college graduate wising to make a mark in the world would not choose the bright lights is inconceivable.
12
I've lived in Tulsa OK where I attended the University of Tulsa. And I taught at Western Illinois University, in Macomb IL -- a far smaller community. I found much to love about both places. Without the university, I would have been one sorry loner. So for many interested in a small place -- find a decent college at least.
It's a shame so many commenting are bashing the article. Perhaps a move to rural areas occurs best after a ride in the big city, or when an entrepreneurial couple seeks a unique anti-urban start-up shop, or when a former rural person, post-graduation and community-seeking, wants to return to their roots. But the cultural, professional, and diversity opportunities? Limited.
And check for coffee shops -- you might be stuck with the one in your kitchen.
1
I gave up my engineering job and moved back to my hometown as an effort to help reshape my family's farm and contribute to my beloved community. 7 year later, it is easy to despair at how far our communities have slipped and how difficult it is to find success.
All we would need to do to revitalize our town is for people to make a commitment to support each other. Buy local food, support local craftspeople and artists and invest in local renewable energy projects just to name a few. Our town is heavy on baby boomers that haven't been able to re-program themselves from the bygone days when diligence and frugality were all that were needed to build success. To them, these sorts of ideas just seem silly.
There are many older farmers here that love to complain about how bad things have gotten, but the last place you'd ever see them is at a weekend farmers market supporting other farmers.
I find glimmers of hope in the occasional conversation with educated, environmentally and socially conscious, passionately hard working people. They are out there, but there aren't enough of them. These are the people that have the ability to logically dissect why our towns are crumbling and how we can improve things.
As I write, a giant pickup truck just went screaming by my house with an American flag and a Confederate flag mounted in the bed, both waving proudly in the air-stream.
Both flags? How does that even work?
OK, so Rome wasn't build in a day...
27
Dating has been mentioned a lot in the comments and at first I thought, "yeah that would be tough in a rural area". Just thinking of my own family members with college degrees, 6/6 in rural areas are married compared to 1/5 who live in urban areas. Dating would definitely look a lot different in a rural area compared to an urban environment.
3
I grew up on a farm and moved to NYC to go to college. After I graduated, I stayed here. That was over 40 years ago. I’ve worked in NYC, raised my kids here, and participated in the social, cultural, and political life of the city. It has made me the person I am today.
The reason I couldn’t have done this in the country? Living in the country is boring and socially isolating! I know from whence I speak.
I read articles like this and I laugh!
19
I always hated urban living and my retirement life in the country is much happier. Studies demonstrate that people are much happier in nature, with low stress occupations. College graduates are nothing special, something like 35% have some kind of degree and most of that number have a bachelors or higher.
In my opinion, most graduates would be much happier as an HVAC mechanic in a small town than living in the urban jungle. (If they only had a little more imagination and a little less self importance.)
9
@jr Not for a long shot!
@jr Rural life is great if you are white, married and Protestant. You are happy with church socials, high school football, and 4H.
Don't even get me started on the MAGA folks.
Rural areas want a very specific type of people. They aren't looking for that Muslim family of 6 or that LGBTQ couple. If you are Black and know your place, you are welcome to stay.
1
American Enterprise Institute - enough said. Big tax cuts mean cuts to education. Without and educated workforce there are no opportunities.
15
This article, and the survey it references are disingenuous. Healthy people who are married, have portable jobs such as those in healthcare, or are retired with Medicare, can be happy in rural areas, at least until they have to stop driving. Educated young people, however, face problems. Their choice of potential mates and compatible friends is limited. In many rural areas, non-Christians are exotic at best, and suspicious figures at worst. Members of sexual minorities face bigotry and even violence. Rural areas are terrible places to live if you are disabled or if your child is disabled.
Restaurants are mediocre because talented chefs can't support themselves locally. The performing arts scene tends to be limited to high school musicals and the church choir.
Parents who want intellectual opportunities for their children face problems, too. Try finding an AP Physics course in a small town, or a calculus tutor, or a ballet teacher. Try raising kids in a local culture that values sports more than academics and thinks of community college as the ultimate educational goal.
I chose to live in a rural community in a setting of great natural beauty, but I would not want my nieces, or the children of my friends to settle here. I miss them, but I want more for them than my town can give them.
28
Dr. Abrams also wrote a book (Culture War?) in the 2000s in which he used statistics to argue that there was no culture war going on in America. This column comes out of the same questionable tradition.
Dr. Abrams must be thinking about rural communities in states like California, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois where the state legislatures aren’t interested in imposing culture war laws on them. Consider North Carolina, in which the state legislature adopted a law to contravene the rights of transsexuals. Or Georgia, with its new heartbeat law. Or Alabama or Louisiana with their attempts to outlaw abortion entirely. Why would any sensible highly educated woman, gay, or transsexual person (and the people who love them) want to live in places like that?
Rural areas lack cultural centers like theaters and museums. And you simply can’t get good Thai takeout in any such community.
29
Urbanization has been a central fact of dynamic, growing economies across the globe. Here in China, in the past 30 years, there has been a massive migration of rural residents into the cities, dramatically raising the standard of living and creating the modern Chinese economy.
Cities create positive feedback loops that encourage innovation, competition, and creativity. They're centers of culture and the arts. I lived on a small town for a few years as a kid. I was a kid, had friends, and enjoyed playing little league - I also did a lot of reading because there wasn't much to do. The little town and thirty churches but a pathetic public library. That's no kind of life for me - it was desolate, boring, and dull.
8
A lot depends on place. This regards rural southern Mississippi. Wonderful, friendly, honest folks who can do almost anything; build their own house, run heavy equipment, grow livestock and produce, fish and hunt. (Of course, they need fossil fuel for most of this).Mostly fundamentalists who commune long hours on Sundays in Southern Baptist churches and are not much interested in education and ‘book learnin’ beyond the ‘3 R’s’. They frequently acquire their trades from parents and grandparents. A bright student has exhausted the regional high school curriculum by eleventh grade. Young men ritually go into the armed forces, some to the local community college. Teen age motherhood is common. Land is beautiful, abundant, and cheap. Homes are inexpensive and generally modest and nicely kept, with well cared for and utilized adjoining land. There is mostly peace and quiet and people respect each other. Many are self-employed, owning a bulldozer or sawmill, a herd of cattle, a country store, or a mechanic shop. An occasional doctor, lawyer, or artist lives tucked away in a landed estate. Wages are low, profits from back breaking agriculture are slim, cost of living is low, opportunities for highly educated people are few. There are problems with drugs, instability in ramshackle trailers, and domestic violence. There is a certain fear of cities and people from them. This is a ‘red state’. What comes from NYC and California is alien and often contradictory to their entire way of life
12
@anwesend I see little to support the columnists premise that there is a lot out there for educated young people in the area you describe. I can't imagine any of my 3 university graduate kids or their spouses finding anything interesting or sustainable versus the cities they live in now. Nice place to visit, I imagine, if you can ignore the issues of inequality of opportunity and the ridiculous attempts to control women's rights and economic futures.
15
I would think there is a self selection bias involved—the educated people in small town middle America are the people who had the opportunity to live wherever, and chose that. It could be for family or lifestyle reasons, or being part of their traditional religious community, but whatever it is it makes them happy. It may not be what makes others happy.
There also may be a bit of status seeking involved. If there are only a couple of doctors, lawyers, and PhD’s in Smalltown, USA, and you are one of them, you are a big fish in a small pond.
5
There is a free market for choice of residence, and people are choosing urban areas. So here comes the American Enterprise Institute, saying that there is something wrong with the free market, and that people “should” be choosing rural areas instead. Well hello, American Enterprise Institute, isn’t that what we’ve been telling you all along, that the free market system isn’t perfect?
11
@Geoff
I'm no ideological fellow traveler of the AEI, but I think what the op-ed is arguing is people may be making decisions based on incomplete information. That's not the same as saying the market is failing.
I agree with that. But that is true of any market. Do you ever have complete information about anything you buy? So Dr. Abrams is attempting to improve the situation by writing an article. I want to improve the situation with government oversight. (i.e. regulations, to make sure sellers are telling the truth and not withholding important information.) But the AEI doesn’t want regulations.
1
Rural crime stats are off the charts, fast growth rural communities often breed dysfunctional out of step government services, you may find yourself commuting 3 hours a day for that new job, you can discover you are living with people who regret what has happened to their community and to some extent also you because of it.
7
Prof. Abrams goes back and forth between NYC and Washington. I don't see him following his own advice.
14
It is worth noting that the New York Times published another letter from Abrams in February 2019 trying to make the case that the American Dream is still alive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/opinion/american-dream.html
This falls under the genre of pieces routinely churned out by conservative think tanks that try to make the case that You Never Had it So Good with lots of cherry picked statistics like the price of televisions, the ubiquity of smartphones, etc.
As someone who grew up in a small town in Indiana in the 80s and has witnessed Indiana's relative standard of living slide into numbers usually reserved for the South, I can guarantee you that while you might be able to eke out a happy life out in rural America, but it will be in spite of, not because of, rural America.
17
I succeeded economically and socially as much as I wanted in a rural county in the Sacramento Valley half-way between Sacramento and San Francisco. And, today, if there wasn’t anything doing around here, you could always go onto that elite singles dating site, drive into the city, and forget your troubles for a night. So I think a young, highly educated, progressive could probably do it. It might be harder now than when I was young. I am retired so I don’t have to put up with Trump voters, but if I were still practicing I would definitely have to discriminate against them. That would cut into my income some. I live on 40 acres. There isn’t a person within 10 miles of my house who didn’t vote for Trump. I used to have to put up with German, Republican, farmers a lot. They were from Germany, like the Trumps, but actually made an honest living. They used to pretty much own the county. Not so much anymore. Their kids all grew up, moved away, went into politics and are now trying to take your health care away. But they were already getting pretty hard to take even then with all the “makers” and “takers” talk. I think things are worse now, but you could probably still do what this author is suggesting. Go for it. But I would definitely recommend a 1 mile boarder between you and your nearest neighbor. Maybe even a wall if you can get them to pay for it.
5
The mass migration of graduates to NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles has a lot to do with the cultural lore of those places. They are where the fashionable, smart, cool people go these days. I’m not sure how much it is about job opportunity as it is about fear of missing out. On the other hand, if you’re talking about a recent grad with a head for tech and a useful degree, the Bay Area is Mecca.
3
Tell me about how much these rural areas are welcoming to POC. Unless you move to a liberal college town, id bet it wont be so nice.
16
I am pretty skeptical about the underlying data and study on which this writer's opinions and conclusions are based. Seems to me he paints with a broad brush and a limited palette, resulting in shallow analysis.
8
In the past five years, two of our highly educated children and their highly educated spouses have moved back to our small village. They, and their combined six children, live within walking distance of the home they grew up in. They were attracted back by the low cost of living, the opportunities for their children in the local small school (and the lack of violence there), and the support of extended family. For my daughter and her husband who are educators, finding jobs locally was not difficult. For my son and his wife who own their own business and sell their products primarily online, it didn't matter where they were physically located. We have a family dinner every Sunday, and who knows what other extended family members who still live nearby will show up? My Dad always does, so my grandchildren spend quality time with their great grandfather. What could possibly be better for them than all this intergenerational interaction? And what are they doing here? Not sitting still. All of us, together, are trying to revitalize our beautiful, historic village that has gone through some rough economic times since the 1990s. Are there challenges? Yes. But ... We're determined. We're connected. We're loving life.
8
@Educator you are also in upstate NY a far cry from Ole Miss or Alabama etc.
2
Another great option is to live near a smaller city, where you can find the peace of a rural area yet not give up all of the cultural activities that make city living fun. I live in a suburb of Portland, Maine, which is a vibrant city with more than enough cool restaurants, breweries, and cultural activities to keep me entertained. Yet at night, I retire 20 minutes away to my home on 3 acres of land, where it is quiet, the air is clean, and I can see the horses on my neighbor’s farm and the fox, deer, and wild turkeys that meander through my yard. I am minutes away from world class beaches, hiking, skiing, etc., and I can be in Boston in two hours should I really need to experience the big city (frankly, you can keep it). There’s more out there than overpopulated and busy cities and podunk towns in the middle of nowhere. I suggest young people find the balance that works for them and not worry so much about where the trendy and “cool” places to live are.
7
My husband and I have started our married life in a small, conservative leaning town. We met in a big city and just so happen to like the slower pace of living here. Our money goes farther and we are saving like crazy.
But if he dies early, I'm moving. I can't imagine finding a second mate here.
9
The dozen years of my early business life I spent in market research made it abundantly clear that data is one thing, reality is something else. This article is in dire need of two aspects of reality.
First, Mr. Abrams has some great statistics, although we see little about his methodology. I can’t help but wonder what he considers “rural.” In my opinion he has no clue. Much of rural life in America is towns with one or two stop lights, a gas station, two or three churches, no colleges within an hour’s drive, and few employment opportunities. Even in the New Hampshire exurb where we presently live the decent jobs for college grads are 30-45 minutes away, with the better ones accessed by over an hour of a miserable commute. Not many people from here come back.
Second, and this could be transformative, is that a growing number of educated people can now work from anywhere. This opens the door to choosing a rural lifestyle, which has a lot to recommend it. I am able to do this, and have worked remotely for customers while on a month-long trip to New Zealand and for several weeks a year at our second home in a Canadian village (pop. 212). OK, I’m self employed, but can do (and have done) what I do from anywhere.
On the other hand, most people want to live where they can hang out with at least some like-minded people, and in some rural areas this can be challenging at best. Rural life is great, but it’s not for everyone. Thankfully.
8
It’s simple. Unless you are in the medical field or there is a federal government office nearby, there are few jobs in rural areas that pay an appropriate wage for a college graduate. Where I live in the Shenandoah valley you can work for a city or county government with a high water mark of 40k a year or you can drive 3 hours a day to Northern Virginia for a 150k a year job. A lot of folks don’t want to live solely to commute so they move to NoVA. Otherwise, you will find yourself in need of starting your own business and that is not something that a newly minted and indebted college student can necessarily do without a lot of outside help - even if they happen to have studied a field that lends itself to starting a business with only education and no experience. The reality is that most folks have to go to the city first to get experience and a wage to pay debt and can only come back to their communities when they are appropriately skilled and financially solvent enough to thrive there. Alternatively, if there were reliable, fast and quality public transit to rural areas then more folks would commute, but the resulting gentrification would bring its own problems.
7
Many rural areas require a handful of healthcare workers, attorneys, and teachers, but they are in crisis because of their inability to adapt to changing economies and retain their youth. Unless major corporations move in to take advantage of local taxes, inexpensive land, electricity, and water, not much can be done to reverse this trend and attract college graduates and immigrants.
The study Abrams cites is compromised by its affiliation with the American Enterprise Institute. Abrams himself would seem to downplay and misrepresent the very statistics he adduces. The ratio of liberal/conservative respondents is reversed in urban (39%, 23%) and rural areas (20%, 42%), while the percentage of moderates (38%, 37%) remains the same. This is a significant difference, yet Abrams follows it up with the flabby and hollow insight that “while urban and rural areas lean in different directions, neither is an ideological monolith.”
Good luck convincing Sarah Lawrence graduates to flock to the diverse vibrancy of America’s rural landscape.
Hello to Bill.
9
The artwork accompanying this article is very naive. I am Asian. I moved my family to Hanover NH from Boston and was immediately overwhelmed by the racism, both subtle and overt, that my children and I experienced. Even in Ivy League East Coast rural America, you will be stared at, followed in stores, taunted and excluded. Black families had it much worse and quickly left. Rural America, because of its isolation, holds on to a hardened 50's mirage of idyllic life that is all white.
28
Living as a highly educated couple in a very rural area, it was predicated by the job, not the community and I suspect that is true for many people. When you get to the community, it is what you make of it. Why are young educated people leaving rural areas? Because jobs matching their degree or skills are not present in rural areas. One missing data point in the article is educational attainment of urban versus rural. https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/10/college-education-workforce-urban-rural-divide-jobs/574273/. The difference is smaller than you think but does exist. The difference in percentage of college graduates in urban versus small rural is 28% versus 18% of the population. Second, moving to a small rural area from a metro area by those who have never lived in a rural area is a considerable shock. Lastly, as the survey shows, community involvement and volunteerism outside of church has falls for those 40 and younger. Best estimates are that volunteering at a civic organization has fallen by more than two thirds since the 1960's and is declining every year. That used to be a binding force in a community where your political ideology was set aside for the common good. Not anymore.
9
Where are the jobs in rural America for PhD research biochemists? Or, electrical engineering patent attorneys? My wife and I love our home in Boston, but would move back to our rural America hometowns or anyone else’s rural hometown in a second. But, that is not going to happen, because America is fast transitioning to a knowledge based economy, where cities and especially high education hubs are where the economy is performing best. On the other end, my rural New England town, a once thriving patchwork of small farms straight from a Norman Rockwell illustration is all but a speed bump today having been reclaimed by the forest. But, my word, it is still the most beautiful place I have ever seen. In my mind right now I can smell the wood smoke from the first boil of the sugar season and the intoxicating sweet smell of the cider house during a full fall pressing.
12
Professor Abrams says that "When I talk to undergraduate students about their postgraduate plans, they typically tell me about something that involves moving to a large city."
Well, that makes perfect sense, he works at Sarah Lawrence College, in the New York City metro region. His students have elected to study in a city, presumably because they want to live in some vast metro area.
I work at Oberlin College, in rural Lorain County, Ohio. When I talk to my students about their postgraduate plans, a lot of them want to continue to study and work in rural areas. (Many opt for graduate study in Ithaca, NY, Urbana–Champaign IL, West Lafayette, IN, and Boulder, CO.)
It is presumptuous of Prof. Abrams to assume that because HIS students want to live in a big city, hence ALL college graduates want to live in a big city. Those of us who have earned Ph.D.s from Ivy League universities and who choose to live in Wakeman, OH (because Oberlin, OH, it too urban for our tastes), know just how faulty his reasoning is.
2
Sorry, but I find it very socially isolating to live in a rural community that is predominantly conservative. I love living in the country, but I prefer the wildlife to the people.
21
@JPM I agree! We enjoy our 5 acres of prairie and woods, the birds, the deer, the big sky, but have found little in common with most of the nearby folks who love their guns and target practice (often lasting for hours), their noisy dirt-bikes and 4-wheelers, and giant pick-up trucks. Rural communities tend to have few zoning requirements and even fewer laws about the use of guns near neighbors.
10
@JPM And, they always want to talk politics and religion. As a socialist and an atheist, both of those lines of conversation irritate me. I don't push my beliefs in any ones face, but many of the people in my very small village want to talk of nothing else. I'm especially annoyed to see confederate flags on peoples's front porches, announcing their beliefs.
5
@KJZ Those neighbors won't break into your home or assult you on the street.
1
I like that the picture in the article depicts a mixed couple... a couple that would likely rather stick themselves with the pitch fork rather than live in places where people would gladly chant “send her back,” and who would likely fear their neighbors would go at them with the pitch forks at some point if things continue as they have.
There’s a lot more to living that shooting for low cost of living.
20
@A.L. GROSSI Yes, the article is very tone-deaf in that regard. On my other commented, I recounted my friend's experiences -- whose marriage matches the pic escept her husband is not a farmer-- in a rural area.
I'd also add that even my couple friends who would fit in a rural community on the surface (white, Christian, 2 kids, dogs, picket fence) prefer not to live there because of the attitudes they're afraid their kids might pick up along with the lack of educational quality/ opportunity.
3
Dream on. I own a manufacturing business in a rural community and have served on county boards to try to improve the community. But rural areas simply cannot deliver the quality and range of services that urban areas can.
My business is located where it is because infrastructure and labor are inexpensive. We maintain our primary home in a major city 100 miles away and spend most of our free time there.
Rural America is a dead end for most educated young people today. There will be bright spots of course, but these are exceptions that prove the rule.
16
@James Thomas Kind of like living in the US and having the factory in Mexico; except the food is better in Mexico.
1
Nowhere in this article does professor Abrams divulge if the rural college graduates were originally from these areas. Perhaps this question was asked but professor Abrams chose not to point out the obvious: those graduates find significant advantages- socially and professionally- returning to their communities. I am originally from one of these small towns. There is zero chance I would have returned after having obtained my PhD since zero jobs requiring a PhD were/are available. There are clearly many reasons other than those listed that college graduates choose to live where they do and having the appropriate job is a huge consideration.
7
I love this article. How better to dilute rural/urban polarization than for young energetic people to make their lives in these places. Many of the comments suggest these kids would be walking into a scene from Deliverance but that just isn’t accurate. Every place has its pathologies. Citizenship requires working through those and leaving things better than they were on arrival. There is so much to do in America and who better to do it than the young and where better to do it than where there’s a need? Great article.
5
I’ve lived in both small towns and big cities, and generally found the towns afforded me more opportunities to be involved and feel like I made a difference.
It was easy to live walking or biking distance from work. I always found talented and friendly people, and in the towns people had more time to be with each other.
Theater choices were relatively limited, but it was easier to be personally engaged in theater in the towns.
Homes were far more affordable. Wage disparity was not so great, but was for the better.
We assume bigger is better. It ain’t necessarily so.
6
OK, I actually live in rural area. I drive past the pasture where the beef I eat grazes every day on the way to work. There is a profound divide between the educated, professional class and the native, multi-generational residents. The latter, at least in upstate NY, pepper their roadsides with "Trump 2020" and "Repeal the Safe Act" signs. Looking at NY's 2016 election results those rural counties went well north of 60% for Trump and comparable numbers for Paladino for Governor. The one clear thing that I see about the core of the people who've live here longest is that they look back and rarely forward. I truly love the quiet, the nature and the peacefulness that comes from a rural residence but I have absolutely no illusions about some of my neighbors.
51
@AnObserver,
I live on Upper Saranac Lake for 6 to 8 weeks a summer and can attest to everything you wrote. No broadband in these beautiful little villages, no viable transportation except cars and great distances between communities means that there has to be concerted efforts to move the Adirondacks. I see it in the non profit sector who are in the vanguard of identifying problems and coordinating responses - not the local or state or federal government -just concerned, compassionate, charitable residents who care deeply not only for this gorgeous Park but for all the residents, small and aged.
3
Astonishing range of pushback elicited: wildly successful article, touching a real nerve. None of the "it works for me" commentary is persuasive: the economic (and cultural) infrastructure simply misleads most people relentlessly toward cities--all the 'wonderful' and 'cultural' opportunities don't successfully compete with lakes and fields and mountains and sky, or work that is set within them. Or neighbors. Hmm. More than 80% of Americans live there, so it must be good? Few readers have read this piece as an argument for the young to think more flexibly about their futures. Well, such advice usually does fall on deaf ears, perhaps because of those dubious definitions of "success."
1
Something glossed over here are the kids who leave after college. Nothing would hearten me more than to see the young people with education return to their rural homes.
Land and housing are cheap. Infrastructure is good. Come build a future.
3
@Peak Oiler
But what will they do for meaningful work ?
Housing is cheap for a reason.
7
Only possible if they, or some entrepreneur, or the government, can create jobs for thinking people.
1
@stan We have lots of jobs in small Virginia towns, as well as opportunities for entrepreneurs. I cannot speak to the rest of the nation. Some of these jobs do not require a degree, such as working in a trade, but they are real jobs, not minimum wage.
1
Well, I was going to tell you about the Thai restaurants, the Indian restaurants, the fusion restaurants, the food carts, the wineries with concerts, the incredible singers in the local musical theater, -the visiting national theater troupes, the outdoor concerts from reggae to classical--the book clubs and so many organizations, the movie stars hiding out here--I could go on and on, but no, I think not. You hang on to your stereotypes. We don't need close minded people here. And no, I won't tell you where I am, but I have a 360 degree view of the mountains and multi ethnic neighbors.
7
Read "Our Towns: A 100,000 Mile Journey into the Heart of America." An excellent insight into what's going on around this country, showing resilience and success in the most unlikely places and the people who instigated it.
3
In my lifetime, I've lived in some very nice Chicago suburbs, small-town Northern Michigan, and the Denver area. While living in rural Michigan, I basically lived in the closet as a political and social progressive. By the time we moved from there after seven years, I'd made a very small group of like-minded friends, and it took a long time to find them. It's certainly easier to get around in small towns, and ours was a charming tourist destination. However, I'll take a city any day where I am free to be myself out in the open.
20
If college graduates are heading to the cities, it is probably because THAT IS WHERE THE JOBS ARE.
24
@Gusting THIS. Forget young people reading to rural America, he should be writing about companies heading to rural America. I am always suspicious of ANYONE from the American Enterprise Institute (otherwise known as Ayn Rand hangout).
16
I live in a rural community and I think Professor Abrams underestimates how that "imbalance" affects life in a small town. Yes, you can find some like-minded folks, but, in my experience, you will feel besieged by the majority.
Many of my neighbors have good qualities, but it's hard to make a real connection with them. We don't see the world through the same perspective.
There are some small towns where you can make a good living as a doctor or lawyer, but other opportunities are limited. Teachers in my region are among the higher paid "professionals." Our school provides some of the best jobs, but it's shrinking. Healthcare is another place you can work if you have the appropriate education. Both create their own communities.
I'd welcome young, well-educated newcomers to this community, but there are those who would see them as high falutin city folks.
26
I don't see how the statistics cited by Dr. Abrams support his conclusion. Twice as many people are conservative as compared to liberal in rural areas and the converse is is true with regard to urban. Yet Dr. Abrams concludes these differences are "smaller than you think." His implication is that the difference is small which it hardly true. And how does he know what I think? With all due respect Dr. Abrams this is sloppy, if not downright dishonest, work.
18
I have lived in both rural and urban areas. To me, each has its advantages and disadvantages. I would agree that for a white conservative or for someone who is driven mostly by financial security, the rural or small-town life can be quite attractive.
As the author points out, there are non-conservatives as well in rural areas. In particular, there are enclaves of diversity even in the reddest areas. As the author points out, many non-city people do become well educated and many do it locally. In particular, there are many towns with at least one college or continuing education facility. The arts and music are well-cultivated in rural areas as well.
I do have to cringe at the modified "American Gothic" image showing a white man with a black woman. Vermont is one of the most culturally diverse rural and small-town states in the US. I loved it there until the death of my wife made it too isolating socially and physically. Still, Vermont is 94.5% white. Vermont has a long history of being welcoming to minorities, but the small percentage might by itself be a daunting cultural experience for some non-whites just starting out.
6
I just attended my 50th year high school reunion,here in small town Vermont. The chief problem that I see is finding suitable lie partners, when you are from a small town - the pool of eligibles is simply not large enough.
Of the college-educated married couples who attended the reunion, i noted the following:
1. high school sweethearts who then attended and graduated from college never returned home - they all live elsewhere.
2. classmates who graduated and went on to earn a degree, then returned home ALWAYS married someone from elsewhere. They never came back home and married someone from their hometown.
3. high school sweethearts who married right after high school and chose not to attend college left their hometown and lead their lives elsewhere.
Personally, I encourage all young people who grew up in VT to leave here, and find their fortune elsewhere. They can return home later in life, after having learned a few things.
There is a lot to be said about having small town values, but big city experiences during a lifetime, not the least of which is learning how to work with other people, with different values.
And yes, you CAN go home again - you just can't expect it to be the same as when you left.
13
Mr. Abrams, an academician, cited polling facts, figures, and percentages as a basis for his pitch to young professionals to look at possibilities in rural America. His argument is certainly bona fide, but he left out what to me are the most appealing aspects of rural living.
Citizens in small towns can participate in local government decisions to a much greater degree than in even a small city. Planning and zoning commissions, finance boards, boards of education, etc. are filled by unpaid citizen volunteers who might be your neighbor, and could be you. (The Democratic Town Committee in my small town asked me to run for Zoning Commission. I had lived here less than a year and was sure I would lose. I was wrong.)
The above principle also applies to education. You have a much greater say in how your children are educated in a small town.
Lastly, economics. For the price of a dinghy one-bedroom condo in San Francisco or Seattle or Manhattan, you can purchase a three or four bedroom palace, with some serious acreage, in almost any small town. And the taxes won't kill you.
The biggest negative I've found to small town America living, and it's a big one, is the lack of ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity.
It's a white Christian world. (I was spoiled by living 30+ yrs in San Francisco, back when working people could afford to live there.) That has begun to change for the better as more urbanites have migrated.
14
Please define "rural " and "urban". There are hundreds of cities of 10,000 to 75,000 to which this column applies, especially if they are within 75 miles of a big city. Tiny villages and towns located more than an easy drive to a city, not so much.
11
I don't understand the angle of this article. The title calls on people to consider moving to rural areas to live and work, because that (not enough people moving to rural areas) must be a problem, right? Then the article proceeds to cite a slew of facts that all say that people are moving to rural areas and are happy and are staying there. So, where's the problem? It's like writing an article that says people in nicer places like living in nicer places, so don't dismiss living in nicer places. The burning issue of our time.
2
The author is primarily addressing young adults, many of whom have not considered anything but moving to or remaining in a large city. All he is asking is to widen thinking and not embark on an important phase of life with only one option in mind. Variety is the spice of life.
1
Rural areas cannot match the culture available in the city.. from orchestras to museums, theater, or professional sports teams. In addition, the availability of world class medical care, and public transportation. The rural lifestyle is great for vacation!
7
@Phillygirl Unless these young people are making large salaries they most likely cant afford to take advantage of these cultural opportunities. Is not so fun when your studio apartment takes up more than half your salary. In a rural area, your more likely to be able to afford a car and a nicer apartment. There is still cultural opportunities plus wonderful nature filled opportunities.
2
Or vice versa. For the amount of time people are taking in these cultural and sporting events, you don’t need to live in a city to be able to participate in them. If you want to go to a museum or the theater, most people can mange that living outside of urban areas and driving in. Outside of a small minority of people, I doubt that city people are taking in much more “culture” that someone not living in a city. And city dwellers seem to think there is nothing of value culturally outside of a city.
4
@Phillygirl I live and raised my children in a rural area. As I age the drive to a city gets longer every day. My kids are both is urban areas living active, happy lives. I understand why too. Everything is close. Getting a quart of milk is a 5 minute walk instead of a 15 minute drive (one way). Going out to have a beer or see a movie doesn't need to account for a 90 minute round trip. While I love the quiet solitude of country living I also understand why a 20-30 something wouldn't find this attractive or fulfilling.
8
Medicare for all who don't now have health insurance would greatly boost small town employment and economies.
But what are the chances that majorities of small town Americans will vote for politicians who advocate for such?
15
Abrams argues that rural communities measure up to the metrics of urban America. What also keeps many people in rural communities are qualities distinctive to these areas. I like outdoor activities like road biking, hiking, and kayaking, and have numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation right where I live. I don't think I could handle the daily urban grind of noise, congestion, and waiting in line. I admit it sometimes gets a bit boring here, but we are a short drive to several major cities.
7
I think a better strategy for recent graduates in to first build their career in a large city for about a decade and then move if they want to raise kids. When they move it can be from a huge city to a moderate size city. There aren't just two choices between rural and the likes of NYC, LA and Chicago. Cities in the 100k to 1million range can be just right depending on what's important to you. Rural life has a lot of diversity issues as many comments rightly point out, and the current crop of under 22s is majority minority. Rural areas are often 70-80% White Christian straight and religious. I can't see it really being a fit.
13
Imagine the trends that will continue and the changes which are happening now and will only become more stark.
Rural communities in good productive agricultural land, have lost so much since the early 1900's.
You can farm thousands of acres with six people or less.
Somebody has to live out there to hook up the milking machines and clean up afterwards, but only a few.
Large land-owners contract everything from planting to harvesting.
The communities that have almost disappeared will be gone in the nest twenty five years.
Don't dismiss rural America?
The challenge will be to find it.
12
Despite the illustration accompanying the article, rural areas are often lacking in ethnic diversity. As for religion, good luck trying to be a moderately religious Jew, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or any other non-Christian in most rural areas. In some places, even Mormons and Catholics can have a hard time. This is also true for LGBTQ individuals. Crucially, younger people hoping to find a mate within their ethnic, religious or gender community may have a very hard time in a rural area. I have known folks who tried it for awhile and gave up on dating in their area, ultimately returning to urban areas.
25
I have lived in semi-rural places for 30 years. The author is engaging in a whole lot of wishful thinking.
36
@PrWiley that may be your experience but not mine.
I have lived in Boone, NC, College Station, TX and Charlottesville, VA and the quality of life beats big city living hands down. Maybe the key is an association with a University that allows a diversity of thought and experience.
6
@Jamie Allan
I live in a small college town in PA. While we do have a more liberal mindset than surrounding small communities, it is still a majority white, older, Christian, town. The only ethnic food available is Mexican. The college does indeed sponsor cultural events, but the community itself...not so much. We live here for my husband’s job. While I love my garden and local farm stands, living here can be isolating and stifling. I got my master’s at Boulder, CO. The opportunities here don’t hold a candle to the opportunities and activities I had on the Front Range of Colorado.
10
@Jamie Allan Rural?? The universities alone have 8, 12 & 30 times as many students as people in my county. Charlottesville was cosmopolitan when I graduated from UVa 50 years ago? It was urban when my father left Earlysville 85 years ago. Try telling the kids in my county where the nearest university is 300 miles that they have great opportunity now that the coal mines have closed. The best they can aspire to is changing diapers and bedpans at the local nursing homes. You and the Sarah Lawrence Prof need to open your eyes to the reality of rural life.
5
Another major disadvantage to living in a rural setting is that the rural setting usually does not include a sufficiently large population of openly LGBTQ people, so that the cultural life is generally significantly below the level found in cities. Quality of life is simply better where there is a critical mass of LGBTQ folk.
14
@There/Here they should be. how can we get people to accept LGBTQ?
2
@Boneisha In fact, Seinfeld in the 1990s had an episode about this when George tries to buy a property and is welcomed there because the townfolks think Jerry is his partner! The belief was gay people would add to the cachet of the town. George of course tried to take advantage of this.
The title of this article should be “Hey College Graduates, Do As I Say, Not As I Do.”
The author urges college graduates to move to rural areas, where life isn’t as bad as many think. However, it turns out he is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (Washington, DC), a professor at Sarah Lawrence College (30 minute drive or train ride from NYC), and a faculty fellow at New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research (New York City). Do as I say, indeed.
As for the many small (and possibly insignificant) percentage differences the author points out, it is worth noting that the study to which the author refers (and of which he was lead author) is based on 2,411 completed interviews (32.8% response rate), an average of perhaps 50 persons per state, not exactly compelling numbers on which to base a life decision to choose the boondocks over NYC, DC and all the other major cities to which college graduates are inexorably drawn.
And, by the way, most young people graduating from college are single, and hardly likely to be drawn to rural areas, where the nightlife and numbers of other young, college-educated singles are quite limited.
58
Good article.
Big city life will prevent one from building wealth on a W2 salary by using up all of one's money to pay landlord's who are already wealthy.
3
This seems to ignore the staggeringly important fact that most people graduating college are not married and small country towns are not brimming with singles social life. I live in a wonderful community an hour from Madison (moved here from Chicago) where good jobs are routinely filled by singles who commute from Madison. Many adult fathers and mothers do the commute in the opposite direction from here to Madison.
10
Small town’s have jobs and affordable housing but typically little in the way of good food, entertainment in general, and as you say, potential for love. As a young man, I left rural Wisconsin fir Chicago once I realized that all the women I met were divorced and it seemed lacked optimism about the future. .
15
@highway Yeah, highway's nailed it. It's the marriage and courting market that are pretty small in small towns. Aside from that, life here is rich, interesting, less stressful, less expensive, with plenty of community and liberal-minded folk around. So... move to the small town after you get your spouse or partner.
1
I moved from NY to San Francisco years ago.I then moved to rural CA. to start a business which, over the years, has been quite successful. I now have homes in both places. I know both environments.Moving to a rural area was risky and at first I thought I had made a mistake.I experienced a kind of sensory deprivation.I have come to really appreciate the space and natural beauty offered here.I live in the middle of an orchard..looking out over the central valley.There is no way I could manage this in any large city or suburb. I have made several good friends most of whom have liberal political views and have also moved here from urban areas.I raised my kids here.They and their friends have been successful and have moved to urban areas..for now. I think they are finding that making good money,eating in good restaurants and being around people with similar political views is not as satisfying as they once thought it would be.There is the financial pressure..the high cost of housing..finding the right daycare($2700/month for one child)...should their kids go to private schools($35,000/year)..1 hour to drive to work.. constant threat of random violence and so on.I love SF and live there part of the time, but now think that it is no longer a good place for a young person,without substantial financial assets,to go .These choices are complicated and personal.A better solution would be to incentivize employers to build facilities in rural areas, then young, urban dwellers would follow.
19
At age 40 I left the brutal climate of Chicago and moved to a small, bustling town, Bisbee, Arizona. My background in Chicago had been journalism, political speech writing, and being a bank clerk. In Arizona I found that such ways to make a living didn't count much. So I delivered mail for two years, roofed buildings, ran a County bus line, ran the County addressing 911 program for 10 years, was a private chauffer for weekend drunks, ran two political campaigns, and then wrote a column for a local newspaper for 18 years. I have also dug ditches in the desert, and taught school. Yes I am a white boy and now I live in a border community of 850 folks. So don't tell me about how hard it is to make a living in America.
10
Grew up in a rural area where we chased deer in the woods, rode bikes miles to reach playmates, and made summer money working in gardens and picking berries. And people who did not go to church were ostracized, kids who played soccer rather than football were "foreigners", and the emphasis was on fitting in rather than trying something new. Did I like riding bikes and rambling in the hills? Sure. And my parents expected me to grow up to be a postman and they, now rebranded as postal carriers, still exist in rural America. But I chose a career that by its nature is urban and mine has an international twist so I need access to a major airport. And frankly I am not comfortable handling the cognitive dissonance of being around folks who aggressively promote their Christianity and embrace Donald Trump. I like small-town living and working with my neighbors to build a ball field even if it is baseball rather than soccer. My nightlife is getting to the library before it closes at 8. But I value having a library, having my kids play soccer, and not dealing with quite so many people who think superficial opinions loudly expressed are substitutes for thoughtful analysis. Trained as a scientist I am not much for theological interpretations of cosmology. In short, there are rural areas and small towns where I could feel at home but much of rural America is as smug and self-centered as the New York metro area. Does anyone know of a rural place with Portland's array of great food carts?
50
@usa999
OK, but what's wrong with baseball?
1
Is the writer a white male? It's a very different experience if one is not male, not white, or different in other ways (e.g. different sexual orientation, religion, etc.).
Now, I do try to be open-minded. In college, I volunteered to train in a rural area with one stop light for 2 months. I was more or less the only non-white person in town and landed in the newspaper within a week. While no one was overtly unkind to me, people did see me as unusual and asked a lot of questions.
Where I was more concerned was how the more liberal medical staff who were there long term were treated. For example, one of them used to offer abortion services but he, his family, and his staff were threatened by some of the town's residents for doing so and had to stop. I also got the sense that they were always treated as outsiders despite having lived there for over a decade.
Additionally, my friend - a black female MD -- worked in a rural area for a time and faced not just subtle racism (people assumed she was the cleaning staff) but outright animosity from some patients. She was married to a local man which provided her with some protection. I think it could have been worse.
At least among many of my peers, we avoid rural areas if we can to protect ourselves and our families.
62
Big errors in this analysis: First, it proffers the life satisfaction of people who are already residents of rural communities as indicative of the predictable life satisfaction of the entire pool of possible immigrants/returnees. That's a fallacy - the current residents are a akin to a self-selected cohort and their settled life satisfaction is disconsonate with the aspirations of the entire pool of maybes.
Next, significant cultural and social inhibitors of students deciding whether to live in rural areas evidently did not make it onto Prof. Abrams's screen. They're presented by a cultural ambience driven strongly by active conservative churches and majority-conservative community attitudes. A higher percentage of students now is not churchgoing - certainly not conservative churchgoing - and most are tolerant - indeed supportive - of LGBTQIA+ persons and life choices, if not members themselves.
As well, a major lifestyle desire in this social cohort is a cultural and social milieu of diverse restaurant offerings and nightlife simply not available in the vast majority of small town and rural communities. Another is the larger pool of potential dates and mates available in urban areas. The social aspirations and preferences of these students seem to have been little recognized.
Kids aren't attracted to cities just for jobs. As strong a pull are social and cultural offerings and personal acceptance. Job mobility, too - no small factor these days of insecure employment.
54
If you look at residential areas even in big cities( not of residential in Manhattan/LA/SF etc. type) and rural USA(population ~10,000 or more) they all look same. In rural USA everything(chain restaurants, pub, Walmart, Lowe etc) is within one mile. In residential cities everything(chain restaurants, local grocery shop, pub etc) is also within 1 mile(beyond that is jammed interstates and roads). Only difference is, in cities you can one day venture out through those jammed streets to see more networks outside, in rural areas you venture out to see more field crops, farms and lakes. Nothwithstanding, there are stark differences in rural towns and big cities are employment opportunities, cost of homes and living, quality of colleges/Universities and mentality of people(liberal/conservative).
8
@Dr Partha Pratim Sengupta I'm sorry Dr., but if you have a Walmart and chain restaurants within one mile, you aren't in a rural area. You are definitely urban!
This article is lovely, but I'd prefer not to live and work somewhere where I can be fired for liking girls - and I want that protection even if I'm working for a private company. This immediately rules out a large chunk of the country, including everything south of Illinois and east of Colorado. I could live in rural Colorado or New Mexico. I will not consider even the biggest cities in Alabama or Wyoming.
38
@Amanda I think your line for Illinois should begin at the southern edge of Chicago. Once you reach the Ohio River you are pretty effectively deep in Dixie.
3
Actually yes, many people do have to work in a big city to succeed economically and socially. As a queer person, I don't have an option. I tried the suburbs, and even that was stifling. Anti-gay attitudes severely affected me at work -- I was harassed, etc. on the job as a teacher. I work in SF now and it's so much better. People like me shouldn't have to do this, but we do.
49
It figures that an opinion piece like this would come from an academic since it ignores the real world. What are these students with virtually no job skills supposed to do? Relocate to a rural area and hope to land a job other than fast food? A recent grad with a degree in some form of health - nursing, medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy has a job skill that is in demand anywhere; a liberal arts graduate? Try fast food. A degree in tech or engineering? Probably no jobs available and if so, the employer will want job experience. Teachers may have a chance since so many teachers are quitting due to burn out or low pay. I telecommute and the company I worked for hired a millennial last year and fired her last week after repeated warnings because she did not share our work ethic; no one I know wants to hire the recently graduated for the same reason. A rural community is less likely to appreciate facial piercings, multiple tattoos, and pastel hair. I moved to a quiet rural area from Florida 7 years ago to telecommute. There are no jobs here for natives, much less outsiders. Recent graduates are lucky to get a job anywhere.
23
@Eli There are a lot of blanket assumptions here. There are more white-collar jobs in rural areas than you think. Dentists in rural areas do very well due to the low supply of dentists in those areas.
@Kohl
Reread what I wrote. I noted that a degree in some form of health and included dentistry would be in demand. BTW, I live in a rural area and the very very few white collar jobs are limited to self owned businesses or state/county/or town positions. They pay very poorly. I telecommute to a large urban area but prefer to live in rural areas so I know that locally jobs above minimum wage are very hard to find.
3
If rural America (in my case Upstate New York) were actually the way I remember it (curious, ambitious, tolerant) then I'd be a lot more inclined to move back. Something has changed though.
When I left (20 years ago) it was "Somewhat Conservative"... Now it's "Trump Country".
The difference is remarkable.
93
I grew up outside Syracuse in the 30’s and 40’s and cannot remember when upstate was other than Republican. Look at Gillibrand who lived in the Hudson Valley, she had to do a 180 on her beliefs when she ran statewide. From an A rating from the NRA to an F. A bigger flip-flopper than Biden.
1
@Todd VanG Huh? Upstate NY is all Democrats.
@Sally Grossman The cities of Upstate NY, along with some college towns, are heavily Democratic. But most small towns and virtually all rural areas are very Trumpian. And Todd is right, they used to be Republican but not aggressively ignorant and bigoted, as they largely are now.
5
I grew up in a city-ish place called Lincoln, Nebraska, and never even noticed that small towns existed. Then I went to college, and met a number of kids from small towns, and learned that they had a better-rounded, more rewarding background than I did. So after a year of law school, I chucked it and took a newspaper job in small-town South Dakota.
That was 34 years ago, and I have no regrets. My kids moved to cities, as I think young people should, but there is a charm and ease to rural life that many city people simply haven’t been exposed to. So yes, I’m a Buttigieg-backing, NYTimes-reading Democrat, editing the small-town newspaper, and no one has tarred and feathered me yet. In fact, the local Chamber of Commerce even made me Person of the Year last year — which admittedly didn’t sit well with everybody, but I would rather be some people’s enemy than their friend.
So, as the author’s point is that rural areas aren’t nearly as monolithic as some might think, I’d say he’s right. People are people, wherever they are. Admittedly, there’s room for more diversity in small towns, but most of us would welcome more.
Not everyone would, of course, but they’ll get over it.
30
@Frank Crisler
Blessings on you, but then you have a job that makes it all work, so there’s that.
@Frank Crisler
bet no one is asking where you were born , are you from here, you speak English well, and the latest trope
Go Back home.. for many colorful Americans that would like to give it a try...traveling in America today is like needing the Green-Book.
I drove across country once, was in rush so did not linger but would like to if not for the worry of the questions I'd get.
1
The author leaves out low wages and extreme car dependence, the marks of rural America, but I'll add a third. The sign just inside the door of my "local" in rural America is explicit: "Please leave quietly, the neighbors are armed." They're not kidding either.
69
@BBB
What is a "local"?
As someone who grew up near Burwell, NE, and who now lives in San Diego,CA, this editorial made me chuckle. I tried reading the entire article, but found it really difficult to get through and stopped halfway. I suspect this author simply hasn’t spent enough time in rural America.
First, most rural communities rely on agriculture which is not doing well economically due to climate change/global warming and the trade war. Housing costs are low, but so are the incomes. Additionally, the modern economy is built on professional connections that you can only get in a major city.
Second, there’s the issue of pervasive racism in rural America. I can’t imagine my girlfriend would feel welcome or even be treated with the most basic level of respect as a human being. Rural America doesn’t yet realize that the best and brightest can come in any number of skin colors (good luck on getting those immigrants from Scandinavia).
64
The rub is that if you work in any kind of specialized field and live in a small city, there is likely no place for you to turn if you want a raise or if your relationship with your boss sours. And frankly, your employer is going to know this and play it to their advantage - and they’ll factor the low cost of living into every salary discussion. If there’s no place nearby that can take advantage of your specialized skills and your boss smugly asks why you can’t work a few more hours tonight, what are you going to do? This literally happened to me, and what I did was move back to a robust job center.
33
It's my assumption based on what I read that people in those small towns, while only 3%higher avowed conservatives, are more extreme in their conservatism. Call it a hunch but i don't think the"send her back"crowd is in NYC.
46
The author misses the elephant in the room, marriage.
You're probably already married and have two incomes if you move to rural America. Unless you're a single man working the oil feilds, or a single women in education or health care rural America is awful for singles.
Two incomes makes a lot of the math change. Two people working at 13$ an hour is still 26$ an hour. With low cost of living, it really can give the illusion that your economic prospects are good.
Rural America isn't some Trump wasteland, but, I wouldn't suggest anybody move to a small town until they have a partner. Even in the libral parts of the Midwest, gender roles are slow to change.
Also, it's just a different pace. Once you move to rural America and live slow, you may never be able to go back and live in a hyperspeed city. I dunno that some careers can tollerate that. It's much more complicated an issue then the obvious sterotype not being true.
14
@Eli
Many years ago I lived in Ft. Worth, TX where I once dated a woman from a very small town 30 miles away. In those days, Ft. Worth wasn't surrounded by suburbs, the farms and ranches started at the city line, probably some inside it. This 21-year old woman was already married, divorced, and had a child (which she left with her parents to raise after she moved to Ft. Worth). How did she get into that situation ? In high school she had a boyfriend, one year older. When he graduated he had to leave their tiny town in order to find a job (the author made it sound like jobs in rural areas were plentiful, that's absolute nonsense), so they got married and had a probably unwanted child and, of course, soon divorced. This story was very typical. As I was in my early twenties I was in the dating scene, and I met several women at my age and younger who already had children, one had three kids by the time she was eighteen ! And this was not all that atypical. Young woman from small towns in TX who found themselves with children and divorced, moved to Ft. Worth to find a job and maybe a new husband, not to mention a pediatrician. To blithely state that one of urban vs rural is better than the other, is to ignore the many factors in one's individual life that would influence that choice.
5
Here is the problem with this article, as I see it: It is wrong to think that recent college graduates will be excited to move to the county, given rural America's stereotypes towards city dwellers.
Urban folks (including college students educated in cities) are sick and tired of being told they are snobby and elitist, when they are literally funding the majority of the state's infrastructure with their taxes. Rural attitudes are all "this is the real America, not your crime-infested cities" until they realize that their economies aren't developed enough to pay for all the roads they would like, and then it's "we are all in this together, this is all one state." A college grad is unlikely to choose that sort of environment over a city like San Francisco or Austin, especially if they do not have existing roots there.
54
Interested in knowing how many of the college-educated, liberal folks who are satisfied in these rural communities returned to areas where they grew up: I would think small town life satisfaction is generally higher for those who have families & some social networks in rural places where they have connections. My bias: I cant imagine ‘breaking into’ a small town or rural community, where I know no one & there are limited cultural or religious or other venues to meet the far fewer folks with similar interests or background to mine. If youre work is attached to a university or hospital, maybe-but still.
28
@Charmcitymomma
I returned to my childhood small town at age 50 to exploit (over decades) my network of family members for a genetics project. My family numbered 5000 in a county-wide population of 135,000. Every week a obituary relevant to my genetics project appears in the local newspaper.
5
I lived in Emporia, KS, for six years and loved it. Vibrant, inclusive, and progressive community. Fantastic art scene and yes, there were fewer options, but it just meant we were exposed to more because we participated in things that we normally wouldn't have chosen. Fun and unexpected and a very rich experience. Maybe we were just lucky but I would recommend an open mind about smaller communities.
11
@Jenn
Your idea of “inclusive” may be different to someone who would be in the minority of rural U.S. (for example, someone who is transgender, black, Muslim...). My point in bringing this up is to remind people like the author of this article that moving to Small Town America is easier if you are white and cis gendered. I would love to read anecdotes from more marginalized, non whites, who took the unorthodox move to rural areas, and how easy or rewarding that decision was.
1
@Jenn
Emporia is a college town, home to Emporia State University and Flint Hills Technical College and the county hospital.
Education, healthcare and technology and the people associated with those activities are highly educated and progressive.
You were lucky....most of Republistan is not like that.
7
@Socrates
You are right. Maybe that would be a good indicator for anyone open to smaller communities, choose a college town?
2
Why do companies locate better paying jobs, which typically require more education, in urban areas?
Because that is where there are many people that they can hire who have the education and the necessary skills to do those jobs.
Given a choice of moving to a location where there are multiple possible employers, or just one or two possible employers, a rational person picks the former over the latter unless there is an immediate offer of employment available. If two people who are both looking for jobs are involved in the decision, that makes a rural choice that much harder.
In some cases, for example the recent forced relocation of government employees to Kansas City from Washington DC, many employees "just said no" and will be looking for jobs in Washington.
Many rural communities are in a death spiral.
Educated people are not going to move to flyover country on a flier.
19
Young people, like everyone else, go where there are promising employment and cultural opportunities. Young people also move to urban areas because their friends are moving there.
They may well move back later on after they are married and have kids.
8
@Elizabeth i.e., become more conservative?
The fact is there is a sharp divergence in the attitudes of rural and urban/suburban Americans towards diversity and that is a huge problem for younger graduates who want to experience life in a more diverse environment. That fact is pretty much ignored by the author of this piece - not surprising since he's a visiting scholar at a conservative think tank.
A Washington Post Kaiser Family Foundation survey from 2017 found that three times as many rural residents as urban dwellers are likely to believe immigrants to be a burden on the nation, and more express the view that immigrants don't share our values.
Of course much of this is a result of a lack of exposure to immigrants but the fact remains that rural parts of the country are far more hostile to the idea of diversity than cities or suburbs, the author's feeble attempt to marginalize or ignore the issue notwithstanding. And the strength of Trump support in rural America would seem to clearly refute the idea that attitudes in urban and rural America really are closer than we all think.
So, yes, as a young graduate and you're okay with a more insular existence, today's rural America may well be for you. If you want more, however, then maybe not so much.
43
@NJB I don't disagree with your overall point but I would argue that rural residents DO get exposed to immigrants. There are plenty of rural areas now that have immigrant laborers, whether in fields or factories. (And probably taking care of their kids and elderly as well. )In terms of their mindsets though, some rural residents do not try to get to know them as people and cannot see beyond stereotypes.
I came from a small country town. The people are crushed by monotony. The built environment is mostly awful as is the music, food and art scenes. Living on a purpose built farm certified 100% organic agriculture with a menagerie of animals would be fabulous...but the small towns that supply them are definitely not a great place for young people with appetites and curiosities. Perhaps if there was a tax incentive to live in a smaller town there may be some momentum but.... where are the jobs ?
22
I oppose Trump on practically every issue, but his tax law changes might create the effect of leveling of the real estate playing field, and giving an advantage to fly-over states with lower mortgage homes. According to Trump's tax law changes, for the 2019 tax season, there was a new limit: you could deduct up to $10,000 ($5,000 if married filing separately) for a combination of property taxes and either state and local income taxes or sales taxes.
2
Rural America is in direct opposition to all of those "liberal, college-educated, socialists" who believe in science, diversity and human rights.
Conversely, why would any open-minded, educated person want to live among a group that wants the country to return to the 1950's or before? No Thanks.
129
@judgeroybean well, not all educated people are open-minded. Others maybe open-minded, but have a conservative bent. I imagine some fields (guessing here - attorney? Accountant?) would be more attractive to conservatives than liberals (scientists - more liberal, journalists, too?)
2
This opinion is filled with questionable "statistics". For example, I strongly suspect self-identifying as "moderate" in a rural community is quite different than in an urban area. Also...40% of those living in urban centers may want to leave, but to where? Another urban center, most likely, not farm country. An educator should know better than to toss half-baked statistics around like this.
62
Of course your undergraduates want to move to cities after graduation. A young professional (engineer, accountant, lawyer, doctor) doesn't just start working on their own. You have to do the modern equivalent of an apprenticeship before hanging out a shingle. And you get that first job in a place where there is huge demand for the skill you are educated for - a city.
After 5 to 7 years getting some experience and seeing how to run a practice, and, perhaps, finding a like minded spouse, that is when you move to the country. With doctors it is practically required - you don't find a lot of 25 bed teaching hospitals.
The only highly educated young people who can get the jobs they trained for out in the country are teachers. And even then, suburban school districts have more resources and more mentors to help you find your feet.
I helped some tourists here in DC the other day. The mom's older daughter was at a 4H conference. I can't think of a more rural oriented organization for young people, though it functions in less rural areas too. When they wanted to teach teen about leadership, they didn't keep them in rural Wisconsin. They took them to Washington, DC.
23
@Polly - nurses can thrive in smaller
areas. They'll get management experience sooner in Gainesville FL or Enid OK than Boston or LA.
Starter journalists, poets and playrights:enjoy the low rent & overhead. No agent's fee to pay just to snag an apartment in Idaho Falls.
Artists? A rural survival gig covers rent for a roomy spot, with off hours free to paint, sculpt, silkscreen and throw clay.
No very young Brooklyn scene-maker has a spare room for kiln, loom or easel.
But her cousin outside Lexington VA or Ann Arbor does...
7
@NoNo Nanette,
I lived in Gainesville for a few years and while Shands is a great teaching hospital, but unless you love football, there isn’t much to do there.
The other professions that you mention require access to large populations to be successful. Poets and playwrights aren’t going to hit it big in Idaho. Artists need cities like NYC to showcase their work. And with rural newspapers closing at a rapid pace, how is a journalist in one of these areas supposed to get noticed?
3
@Polly
Actually, there is a severe shortage of attorneys in many rural areas, and bar associations are helpful to those setting up a solo law practice. However, that’s for those who have a law degree, and many recent grads are deeply in debt, thus seeking higher pay in places with more jobs.
As mentioned by others, the best way to attract younger people to rural areas is a major internet infrastructure upgrade to bring folks who are able to work remotely and could benefit from the lower cost of living. But young people are also more likely to want social, cultural and entertainment experiences that rural towns will never have.
The satisfaction stats are misleading, as I tend to think people are either rural or urban personalities, and that is the setting where they are happy. I wonder how small the sample size is that can speak from the experience of having lived in both environments and know their preference. Having grown up in a Midwestern town with one stoplight to living in a mid-size and expanding city, I can tell you I'd shoot myself in the head before I ever move back to the country. If anything, I have a growing interest in moving to an even larger city if I can afford it.
36
Urban, rural, what's wrong with suburbs and exurbs? The megacities can be too big. And you can end up as a wage slave to the landlord. The suburbs are usually better. Around the megacities, rents are too high but the wages are set high to support the rents. Never come into a high rent area without learning what the wage multiplier is for that area.
Rural areas are good for lots of business. They aren't that good for high tech jobs. Although sometimes companies recruit from the high cost cities to obtain the highly trained people their own area cannot produce.
4
I miss being able to look up at the sky at night and see a billion stars. I miss seeing the aurora borealis. And the quiet in the middle of winter.
I miss hearing the coyotes serenading in the canyons just outside of town when I lived in the desert southwest. I miss seeing the Milky Way every night.
26
What about restaurants? Bars? All the amenities and opportunities for fun that cities hold?
I can tell you those don’t exist in rural America. I grew up there and I’ll probably move back at some point, but the fact is there simply aren’t any quality sushi restaurants within 2 hours of my family’s ranch! Especially for those of us in our 20s, there’s just a lot more going on in the city and I would not underestimate how much that factors into the plans of recent grads.
20
@Mr. Adams When there is only one decent restaurant within 20 miles and it is a burger and chicken fried steak place, one is limited. There is a McDonald's and a Wendy's about 20 miles from us and the one Safeway in the county is as close to a Whole Foods or Natural Grocers as we get. I'm glad my high school age grandson can drive a tractor, bale hay, butcher hogs, build a garage, and hunt elk, but he needs an urban education to be successful in the 21st Century.
13
@Mr. Adams Well, you can always make your own sushi and invite people over to play their musical instruments and share their board games, home-brewed beer, and anything else you need to enjoy an evening "out."
I don't mean to insult you; there are so many things you can do with one another if the expensive, urban bar scene is 350 miles away....
3
As soon as Progressive programs like a national effort to extend a superhighway of broadband lines to rural communities, lots of young grads would find the small town a nice place to live. First Progressives have to get into power. It would help if rural communities were aware of this. But in the end, these magnanimous city folk will save the small towns in spite of themselves. Its a matter of time.
19
I imagine that if there are lots of good job opportunities, along with the clear advantage of a lower cost of housing and living, that people young and old would tend to move to rural areas. So what we really need to know are the employment statistics - is there really an excess of job opportunities in rural areas that employers find hard to fill, compared to cities?
7
@Larry Figdill In my county 3 years ago we lost 10% of our work force when the coal mines closed. And those were the best paying jobs in the county. There are no jobs for university professor s like the author. The apple juice plant closed 30 years ago, the Louisiana Pacific chip board mill closed 15 years ago. But there are jobs changing diapers and bedpans at nursing home s. Not exactly what most recent college grads have in mind.
13
The author appears to ignore the entire field of urban economics in making his pitch. Productivity and agglomeration go hand in hand, which generally means a more productive college educated brain can command a higher wage and standard of living in a city. This assuming the rent and living costs are not higher than the urban amenities and wages provided, which is happening for an increasing number in so called superstar cities like SF, NYC, and DC.
6
This essay was so heavy in statistics it reminded me of Robert McNamara's report regarding Vietnam, which all turned out to be false.
I get bored and exasperated when I read a statistic such as, "82 percent is satisfied." How are you defining satisfied. How do I know you have a representative sample. The final polls put Hillary ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin and we know what happened there.
32
@David Gottfried
DO you know what “happened there” with the 2016 election results? Because it sounds like....you haven’t been filled in on how she lost. Hint: has nothing to do with the “final polls”.
I grew up in a small Rhody town and I moved back in 2004 after college in Vermont. I had no urban experience outside of travel. I was hired as a reporter for a small town close by. The pay was so abysmally I would never have been able to rent and I had no idea how to find a job in business. Desperate, I moved to Hong Kong to teach English. Best decision I ever made. I could only have taken that leap of faith at 22. Living there got me to Boston (13 years). When I had a kid two years ago, I realized I wanted to be super close to the beach and the forest and a sky with lots of visible stars and neighbors who I know by name. So in two weeks, I’m moving home, again. I will miss walking to restaurants and riding the T. But in addition to all these wants of mine, the cost of living in Boston is not sustainable. But despite costs or fears or anything holding you back, trust me young adults: forget living in a rural or suburban area when you’re young. Not because of politics, or jobs, but because of what you won’t learn and who you won’t meet and what you won’t experience. If you work hard enough, fifteen years later, when you decide to move somewhere rural or suburban just like me, you’ll figure out a way to maintain your success. I’m very happy to go back to that small town where I was a reporter at 22. But only as the 37 year old person I am now, molded by the big cities I’ve lived in.
64
@Rebecca McNeil - tell us more. Post link to your blog if you have one.
Or not.
But...this is an interesting tale. Readers are curious.
Cheers.
2
The elephant in the room is employment. Rural areas have very few employment opportunities outside of farm work or resource extraction.
Sometimes there might be some factory production. But working on a factory that might disappear at any moment without any alternatives available nearby is not a good idea.
30
Young college graduates, mostly unmarried, also look for age-comparable social interactions and dating opportunities which are vastly smaller in rural areas, they are even limited in suburban areas with their sprawling development of mostly married people, as compared to urban areas. Married couples will also consider the need for excellent educational opportunities for their children, whether they have them or planning to. And related, what are the health services offered- a true concern with the ongoing many closures of rural hospitals. Many professionals also have extensive travel needs and access to convenient airports can be a big deterrent to moving to remote places. Furthermore, a big advantage of metropolitan areas is the proliferation of multiple job opportunities needed for advancement and personal development.
Lastly, I would like to ask the author why in view of a declining and aging rural population are the youngsters going off to college not returning to take on those great job opportunities you mention in your article?
30
Despite the myth, most rural areas are not places of natural beauty. The vast majority of rural towns depend either on agriculture or resource extraction. If you like big, boring fields of commodity crops, stinking hog waste lagoons, or monotonous stands of timber with the occasional clearcut or mine, you'll love the rural landscapes of the US. Only a few small towns are near mountains, beaches, and national parks, and many of those have become playgrounds for rich people.
111
And shopping mall after shopping mall with all the same Big Box stores.
7
@Zejee In rural areas we don't have the population density to support a shopping mall, much less a big box store.
2
@Zejee In rural and small town in the midwest it's Dollar Stores, Casey's or Huck's and maybe a gas station convenience counter for your shopping pleasure.
6
"Let’s start with the idea that urban areas are overwhelmingly progressive and rural areas overwhelmingly conservative. This is simply wrong."
No, it is basically right. Why?
"...rural areas, where 20 percent of residents are liberal, compared with 42 percent conservative and 37 percent moderate."
In 2019, moderate is in fact conservative. E.g., on the left in moderate are Biden supporters: they are all conservative -- otherwise they would not be Biden supporters. And it only gets worse (more conservative) as you go to the right end of moderate.
Urban areas might not be overwhelmingly progressive, but rural areas indeed overwhelmingly conservative.
Also, take a look at this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/election-2016-voting-precinct-maps.html
28
After reading your piece, I think I understand your purpose in writing it, but it occurs to me that young college educated people should focus more on their interests, their purpose, rather than whether they are in a rural or an urban environment.
The objective should be to find happiness. Finding happiness is extremely complex but in most cases happiness involves doing what makes you feel good. What makes you feel good, I am pretty certain after 82 years of experience, is having a sense of purpose. The sense of purpose is a sense that is developed after a period of discovery and a lot of trial and error.
Since we are a eusocial species, it seems to me that we can reach a sense of purpose and happiness by having a job that gives one an opportunity to experiment with different occupations, a life time of learning by defining ourselves by our interests.
Travel is important so that you can meet fellow humans from different cultures. I was a career U.S. Navy officer with many different occupations in many different locations, some on ships, but in the end, the 20 years in the Navy prepared me for the next 40 years in public policy and gave me a sense that I could contribute to the future by developing solutions to some tough problems. Such as much more efficient energy sources than fossil fuels which we have now learned pose a threat to the survival of our species. So, I write and speak about these concepts and try to persuade others that this is an important issue.
7
I want to know what part of the country this study focused on for its rural towns. I have lived in very small rural towns in the lower mid-west with populations under 3,000 and 8,000 people. Both towns had a few progressive people that I knew (I could count them on one hand), absolutely no cultural activities and a huge methamphetamine problem. The poverty was overwhelming. I have also visited rural towns in New England, New York, southeast Louisiana, California, Florida - you get the picture. There is a huge difference between isolated rural towns in the middle of sparsely populated states, nearly 100 miles from the nearest large town or city versus small towns in more densely populated areas with a lot of access and connection to the larger world (or small college towns as mentioned by one commentator). Living in those isolated smaller towns was like being in the Twilight Zone, or on the set of Napoleon Dynamite. It still feels surreal that I was ever there.
I'll also point out that I currently live in Louisiana, where our Democratic governor is against a woman's right to choose to have an abortion; he's completely unrecognizable to me as a democrat. But at least there's some diversity of people and opinions. And as much as I have qualms with the politics, regressive tax laws, roads, education system, flooding, natural disasters (you get the picture), the people are warm and welcoming, and there is definitely an interesting and unique culture.
30
@Maria C I agree 100% with you about the poverty and meth in rural areas. One thing we don't have is a homeless problem because there isn't enough money to fall through the cracks to support them like in a city. At 16 my wife left the DC suburbs to live with her father in New Orleans. The New Orleans school district graduated her after her 1st semester because her two years of Maryland high school classes exceeded all they had for junior and senior years. At 16 she was a student at the University of New Orleans and tutoring Tulane students in common fractions to earn money. New Orleans has great art and music, but as soon as the oldest kid was old enough for school she left for better schools.
1
Haha, oops, unless you're LGBTQ! I'll take not being stared at or having my identity questioned, thank you very much. (Oh, and using the bathroom of my gender identity).
40
@Jas
Thank you for mentioning this. Seems the intended audience for this piece is straight, cis gendered whites.
Most rural places are by definition isolated from civilization. Why would an educated person want to live like that? Rural jobs should pay a premium just to get people to live there.
37
I wish I could, but I’m institutionalized.
I’ve lived in Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan all my 70 years.
Living in rural America for me be would be like throwing a fish from a fish tank into a lake.
I’ll stay in my one mile radius thank you.
12
Many rural or semi-rural areas are starved for the energy and intelligence attracted to big cities. Where college and graduate degrees are less common, the preparation that people make before heading off to a bigger city means, to some extent, they would be welcomed elsewhere and, moreover, just another degreed, anxious and ambitious resume bouncing around a big city like New York or LA.
Take note that one big city, Houston, now has the highest concentration of young people in America. One would think that the youth hub of Austin, Texas, held that distinction, but, no, Houston is a magnet for the young (Houston is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in America where a multitude of foreign languages are spoken.)
With fewer well paying jobs available in smaller towns, it might be harder to get started there, but if one is able to do so, advancement might very well be faster and, perhaps, less limited.
I have lived for a long time in the Washington, DC, area. The attitude in a lot of employment fields seems to be this: hey, we don't need you. There are so many educated and talented people here that supply sometimes seems to exceed demand. when, in fact, there is always a need for people of exceptional abilities and talents.
No doubt, a better life at a lower salary with likely less pressure can be had "out there" in many places around the country.
With the internet and jet travel, one no longer needs to be in a cultural hub to enjoy a rich lifestyle.
5
It's good to show that working and living in a rural area doesn't have to be a dead end or unsatisfying. There are a lot of people who would prefer the less crowded, less hectic lifestyle that is often much cheaper to live in. And those who like outdoor activities would certainly like to live in these areas.
All that said, there are simply not enough decent paying job opportunities, or variety of jobs to really draw people - young or older - to these communities. However, that could change. If Congress finally launched the long-promised Infrastructure Initiative, to include rolling out and expanding high speed internet and cellphone service to rural areas, that would create a number of good jobs. On top of that, giving incentives to renewable energy companies - including manufacturing, as well as engineering, sales, accounting, and other white collar jobs - could provide numerous, sustainable good jobs, as well as offer a real alternative to those who can't afford to live in the urban "hot" markets. And as these younger workers flock to these new opportunities, they will change the ideological spectrum, making it less conservative, and more multicultural.
Of course rural areas won't ever become urbanized, or offer all the cultural opportunities of urban centers, but for as often as most people take advantage of these activities, they could make the occasional trip to a city and get their "fix", and then return home to a more relaxed lifestyle.
11
A lack of basic internet infrastructure in rural America needs to be mentioned when discussing the opportunities for economic growth in rural areas. The quality of internet connections in rural America is in a widespread crisis.
21
The good Dr fails to take into account the lack of diversity in small towns. The small Oklahoma town my grandparents lived in had a very small black population that lived on the “wrong side of the tracks.” There were zero Hispanic families. One Asian family. There were no Jewish families, much less any Muslim, Buddhist, or even Catholic families. I do not recall any person who I every met there who identified as LGBTQ . In the rare trips I’ve made back there in recent years, there are a few Hispanic families, but otherwise there is no change.
I would never choose to live or raise a family in such a monolithic society of straight white Protestant faces. The US is a rich tapestry and I’m not interested in living in the bunch of red thread that wants to blot out the other colors.
76
I've been living in the South for 30 years. I live in a college town, but I'm done. I can't live here much longer, five more years at most.
21
Walkability and variety of social and cultural activities aren't addressed here - 2 big factors that I would imagine continue to draw younger people to cities.
39
@Not Surprised LA is known for its walk-ability
1
Very interesting. When I was younger, I once lived in a rural area and was bored out of my mind!! I was a "City Person"!!! Rural living was "dead living"!! I was not ready at such a young age to "give up" And employment opportunities were indeed limited, the salaries were not rich , the atmosphere rigid, and conservative and the people, I met were inflexible and narow minded, limited and unsophisticated!! There were no opportunities to see dance, art and experience awarness the way I wanted to and I soon moved to a "big city" one that offered me diversity, culturally rich, spontaneous, creativity and tolerance, which included various foods, music and all sorts of people, who spoke various language, and wore all types of clothing and were alert and receptive, I needed to grow and to move forward in my life and I even obtain addition education, training and traveling experiences. After many years, after I had had my experiences, I left "the big city" and was able to finally adjust to a smaller environment. No way I could have become the well rounded, interesting and enlightening individual I am if I had remain in a rural, isolated area. I hated it 100%!!!!
52
As a 7th generation Hoosier with two post-graduate degrees who loves my home state, I can attest that there are indeed possibilities to be found and a rich life to be lived in small town, rural America. Indeed the best of both worlds can be had by commuting like my family does to Indianapolis for concerts, art films, and galleries and then returning to a less-expensive, satellite small town for community, sanity, lots of professional and personal freedom -- and progressive friends to boot. Once you look past geographical stereotypes and pigeonholes, lots of possibilities can be found, lived -- and loved.
8
@John C. Van Nuys
You acknowledge commuting to Indianapolis for entertainment and cultural events (perhaps even a job?). But that places you in suburbia, now with the largest population concentration in the US and also the fastest growing for precisely the reasons you stated. The author refers to rural America that lies substantially beyond the limit of suburbia and does not offer the wealth of job, cultural and entertainment opportunities available to urban and suburban inhabitants.
13
@John C. Van Nuys - I smell money - big money and all that affords. Commuting to see a show and staying overnight would put most people out a weeks wages.
8
@John C. Van Nuys I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities for a straight, white protestant with roots in the area going back 150 years.
However I am equally sure that the situation you describe does not exist for people who do not look like you.
But if you are not from the small rural town you better think twice. The locals who stayed over a few generations favor the locals who stayed over a few generations.
66
@William
Not every person in a small rural town thinks that way. I've seen new people assimilate very easily in my small town.
5
@William Sad but true. My European wife with the PhD has had trouble finding friends. The locals in my small home town already have friends, … they don't seem to need any new ones.
9
I don't disagree that there are opportunities for college graduates in rural America. However, it's not for most young people unless they are in engineering and health fields or are from rural areas.
I grew up in the big city and after a short internship in NYC area, was transferred to rural SC. It was a huge shock. Your life is on display and a topic of discussion. The companies take advantage of the population who are tied down to the area with few opportunities to change jobs. Fortunately, I was able to find another job in a larger city and move on.
I think the sweet spot might be college towns. The right mix of smallness with a bit of intellectualism. Good for retiring professionals too. Still looking for "Liberal" small towns that haven't been priced out by the Hollywood types or the Chinese.
43
This study would seem to have a serious problem with selection bias. Of course most of those who have chosen to live in rural areas have values and priorities that make them more comfortable in rural areas, and vice-versa for those who have chosen to live in urban areas. It doesn't necessarily follow that a young graduate leaning toward the opportunities of an urban area might be happy somewhere rural, or vice-versa. I mean, it might be true, but it isn't adequately supported by the evidence presented here.
As for the "flyover country" insult, nobody actually uses that; it's an imagined insult repeated ad nauseam by the Fox crowd to drum up resentment.
43
@M. I use it. For example, Kansas is "flyover country" because there is no plausible reason for anybody who lives in a real place to actually want to go there. I could say the same of a half dozen other states in that region.
3
@M. Being a somewhat liberal professional who worked in NYC for 20 years, I can assure you that there is certainly an attitude of "flyover country". Perhaps you are familiar with the Saul Steinberg New Yorker magazine cover of the map of the US, emphasizing NY and then the Pacific Ocean. That cover was so popular it was made into a poster.
2
@MW
It was also a joke— a joke based, in no small part, on hyperbole and a certain self-aware kind of self-deprecation.
2
I'm nearing retirement. I currently live in Austin and work at the University. I also have a farm I inherited in the upper midwest. I could eke out retirement living in Austin (it's expensive here), but live like a king on the farm. My farm is in a partially progressive state, but there are still plenty of people there who would fit right in at a Trump rally chanting whatever nonsense they're currently chanting.
I would love almost all aspects of retiring to the farm, but I fear I'd have to keep myself in the liberal closet and avoid talking politics with anyone (and I like discussing politics). I have a year or so to make a decision, and maybe things will become more politically rational. I'm reluctant to sell the family farm (it's been in the family for well over 100 years), but it may come to that.
I think Dr. Abrams may be painting too rosy a picture of rural living; there are indeed tradeoffs to be made.
110
Who is working the farm now ? If you own it and it is productive and profitable, then you can lease it and presumably take a steady check from it to supplement a presumed State of Texas university pension and/or Social Security. You have plenty of viable choices.
7
@Rick in Texas
Rick, from my perspective it's a no brainer: sell the farm and retire in Austin. Everything is relative, and to me, your cost of living in Austin is incredibly inexpensive for the great lifestyle the city affords.
8
@Rick in Texas
I also work at the university in Austin and am in a similar boat. My parents' home, which I will inherit, was located in a semi-rural area. It's grown a bit since they first bought, but let's just say the appreciation is not impressive. I dread the possibility of having to retire in the same place from which I escaped the collective Trump mindset, but with only a single income, it's looking like I'll have no choice. I guess I should be thankful that I was able to live in a liberal Mecca for most of my life. Not too fun to end up in the same place you started.
5
Given how much the good Dr. left out (as pointed out by numerous comments) I have to assume this article was written a bit tongue-in-cheek. So here's a TIC comment: if you were actually trying to plant the subliminal idea of moving to a rural area with political intent, just be straightforward about it. Obama once suggested to a group of Brooklyn hipsters that they move to Wyoming. Hey, that's probably easier than a lot of other ways of flipping 2 deep red Senate seats. Run fiber to Casper, build some tech infrastructure, move in a few thousand highly productive tech personnel and tens of thousands of support barristas and chefs, an Amazon mini-hub, a few craft breweries, musicians and other entertainment to enrich the tech producers' lives and benefit from the trickle down. Throw in some activists to maintain political focus, and voila, the balance could tip.
12
Can we take a moment to acknowledge that, regardless of if college graduates would be as happy in the suburbs as in the city, this article's arguments entirely fail to offer any justification to that claim, and are rife with selection bias. The defining theme of Prof. Abrams writing centers around the claims that based on AEI's polling data, people are roughly similar in terms of how satisfied they are, how connected they are to their communities, expected professional success, etc., whether they live in urban or rural locations. Let us not forget that this was a poll of people who by and large we can assume chose to live in their respective communities, and presumably had reasons motivating those choices. All this is to say is that Prof. Abrams' polls show nothing more than that people who would rather live in rural places are just as happy in rural places as people who would rather live in urban places are to live in urban places. Were it the case that rural people are significantly happier, than maybe he could make they case that people ought to give rural areas more consideration, but as it stands all he shows is that people by and large are equally likely to be correct about their decision to live in a given are whether that area is rural or urban. If anything, this shows that people who chose to live in urban areas were probably right that such places better suit their personalities and interests, and would very possibly be less content if they took Prof. Abrams advice.
20
Very interesting to read. I think educated youth opt for cities mainly due to the availability of maximum employment opportunities, public transportation, plenty of entertainment including night life, infrastructure and diversity.
Disadvantage in cities is mostly related with cost of living, which is definitely expensive when compared to towns. As mentioned by the writer the employment opportunities might be good in some towns and may not be that good when compared with places like New York and Chicago.
When it comes to cost of living Manhattan, NY is literally unaffordable to the middle class whereas Flushing, NY and Jersey City, NJ are easily manageable.
The biggest advantage in towns wherever there is employment opportunities is that one can save reasonably depending upon one’s way of life.
A place like Ann Arbor, MI is excellent for living. It has good employment opportunities for the educated, a good University, public transportation and has plenty of diversity too. I am not sure about the entertainment aspect.
3
I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I left at age 19. I'm 72 now and the only way I'm going back is in a pine box. Rural is not for me.
63
I had the privilege of moving to a small city when I left my parents. Having lived for 25 years in a city (new Orleans) that offered what seemed like unlimited cultural opportunities (including free faculty recitals at Loyola U), I found myself in an area that had only a community theater, 2 shows per yr, and an orchestra that provided 3 concerts per year. There was also one movie theater. There was dire need for an active "Ladies of Charity," due to the extreme poverty in the outlying rural area.
I made my own "cultural experiences" by joining the theater, taking lessons from the concertmaster of the small orchestra, and delivering food and clothing to the rural areas.
Learning how the rural poor live was an eyeopener. I eventually led "Ladies of Charity" and became politically active with urban renewal, job-retraining initiatives, and an attempt to be elected for school board.
I was a voice for the poor who were about to be displaced by urban renewal efforts, and nearly lost my job over my activism. I had an unwavering voice and name recognition in a small town of 20,000.
I say all this because, when one lives among 500,000 or greater population, one's voice is small. An educated person with energy and time to be involved will find a very large and prominent niche when the population is only 5,000 or 25,000.
I strongly urge anyone to go for small-city/town leadership opportunities.
29
@ultimateliberal. You are a hero.
@Robert kennedy Thank you. I did a lot more, but I don't like to brag. My point is that young people have a bigger voice in a smaller venue. Occupations and jobs may be limited, but "managing events," whether for the town, the church, the school, or entertainment look great on a resume and build people skills. The name recognition is awesome.
The best jobs in small cities are in education, banking, retail/grocery management, newspaper publication, public infrastructure--water treatment, road maintenance, refuse collection, government. I was a teacher in elementary; later, in adult vocational education.
Are there many jobs for political scientists in rural America? Or rural anywhere?
Maybe Prof. Abrams considers Yonkers as rural (well it's not Manhattan).
11
@Joshua Schwartz Excellent point.
1
@Joshua Schwartz Are there that many jobs for political scientists anywhere?
1
@Joshua Schwartz
Excellent point!!!
1
Seems to me that Prof. Abrams neglects the social dimension completely. What single 22 or 23 year old wants to move to a rural situation with extremely limited social prospects when they are in primetime mating season. Also, young people gravitate to communities with an abundance of job opportunities, where they know if their current job is unsatisfactory, they can easily find another and won’t have to move, like the greater New York area, in which Bronxville is located, where Prof. Abrams works.
39
@JMA Exactly. Take a look at where Amazon proposed to extend its headquarters. Rural America was not one of the locations under consideration. That's true for many big players. Kids are dismissing rural America because there are fewer prospects. This article has cause-and-effect backwards as if a few well-meaning grads could somehow turn rural America around. Hogwash!
4
The professor who lives in Metro NYC sings the praises of farm country. Maybe he can work on the script for a revival of the Green Acres TV show?
This reminds me of folks who are zealous about public transit... for other people.
(I don't see how Dr. Abrams can be correct. As the U.S. population grows and the capacity of the highways remains fixed, there will be an increasing premium on being able to walk from one's house to essential services. Walkable neighborhoods are, by definition, urban neighborhoods. Folks who live in rural areas and need to interact with any city services will be doomed to sit through hours of traffic jams.)
42
@Philip Greenspun
Many good points but I have to say, you can walk more easily in many small towns. It is rural outskirts and county land that is really inefficient.
4
@L Let me add a few more things I have observed about small-town/rural areas, particularly those in proximity to Interstate highways.
1) There is usually a "convenience store" within biking distance, if not walking distance, from population clusters among those amber waves of grain. If rural residents don't have cars, they can use their tractors or horses.....or carpool for bartered farm produce. Yes, this does still occur in the 21st Century!
2) Most small towns I have visited (pop.5,000-25,000) have at least one mall with a cluster of essential stores, and rural people tend to look out for one another, "I'm running to the mall tomorrow. Do you need a ride?"
3) One's wardrobe is basic and unpretentious; inexpensive--why not?
4) People tend to get to know and trust each other more easily. No longer a stranger, once three people have met the newbie.
And, yes, I have been to that convenience store/gas station named, "The Middle of Nowhere" It's off I-80 in Wyoming---The Wild West; Always Will Be.
3
@Philip Greenspun ...Cities are also more energy-efficient.
Then too rural areas grow a heartier form of racism, anti-Semitism, anti -Muslim and Asian prejudice and discrimination. Misogyny is of course very hearty in the boondocks.
Small towns, however, have their charm and a big helping of closed-mindedness and, there will be a Rotary Club.
I lived in remote, rural Northern Montana and-almost-as-remote-and-rural Western South Dakota for a combined 18 years after leaving graduate school, primarily because the academic job market was so abysmal in those days. I'll leave aside the frightening academic standards of the institutions at which I worked (nominally 'universities') for a separate discussion and concentrate on cultural and social issues. I made very good, lasting friendships in both places and, because I was a very avid outdoorsman, I was able to entertain myself. But for the eight and a half months of the academic year, I had to resign myself to living in a virtual gastronomic and artisitic desert and then spend most all of the summer on the West Coast (where I was raised) to try slake my thirst for decent restaurants, interesting live music, and worthwhile cinema. That's a ridiculous way to live and I regret very much all that wasted time.
125
In 2016 Clinton carried 472 counties which produced approximately 64% of America’s economic activity (GDP) in 2015. Trump carried 2584 counties which produced approximately 36% percent of America’s GDP in 2015.
I'd be interested to know which and how many of those counties were gaining/losing population. And why.
26
Nobody here has mentioned housing — one of the biggest practical impediments to choosing small-town life as a 22-year-old. By and large, suburban and rural areas don’t have rental apartments. Cities do.
I learned this the hard way in my early 20s, bouncing to journalism jobs in suburban and rural New York. Most small towns don’t have any rental buildings; the few rentals are cottages, run-down whole houses, and mother-in-law units — none of which are conducive to making post-college friends, as you would in a city building with a gym, roof deck or lobby.
The 20s are the years when you want as many opportunities as possible to bump into lots of different people and opportunities — for dating, friendship, networking. You can’t do that if you spend your commute isolated in your car, or take walks on silent, woodsy trails. These years are when travel is easiest, and evenings are free for culture; you need an international airport nearby, along with yoga classes, theaters, museums and the like.
The out-of-touch author seems to think it’s about ideology — finding fellow liberals. It’s not. It’s about finding large numbers of peers, as well as professional and educational opportunities.
In the country, most professional jobs are in schools and healthcare. Often there’s no option for grad school or professional training, which is very common at this age. Rural life is geared toward people with settled, self-contained lives.
48
I grew up in a small (1500 pop) remote mountain town. It was a great place to grow up, but I couldn’t wait to leave after I graduated high school because it felt suffocating.
28
This may sound a little strange to some people. When I was looking for a job 20-30 years ago, my mentor asked me what kind of job I wanted to get. My answer was simple, "I want to live in a blue state, not red state, regardless of a job." This was truly from my heart. I love a countryside and nature, so rural area by itself is not an issue. But, I just wanted to live in a reliably blue (not even purple) state or area. The fundamental philosophical core value was the most important to me; otherwise, I would feel depressed and hopeless at every election night.
62
@old lady. Vermont welcomes you!!
I want my children to be raised in an environment where they feel like they belong. In the city I live in, truly on the subway you see faces of all different ethnicities without a clear majority. It's an interesting trend - the further away you move from the city, the whiter it gets.
Honestly, it is easier to stick with people from your own culture because you share so much in common and it happens in rural and urban areas. I was guilty of this myself when I moved temporarily to a smaller city for my degree. Upon arriving I was just shocked at how many white people there were and for the first time in my life I felt like an outsider in a new place. I found people of my own culture and clung to them and only near the end did I seek out others. In hindsight I regret that. Being a student town there was actually decent food from a variety of cultures - except my own. I missed it a lot. It was a relief when I went home. I'm staying.
10
Limited food options. Limited arts and cultural options. Few choices of employers, and if you lose a job you are out of luck. Most college graduates are single, and there are limited dating opportunities. Long, lonely winters in the Northeast or Midwest. With rare exception, a decided unfriendliness to those who are not straight white and Christian.
Small towns can be beautiful, but they are not interesting for most educated young people, other than as a place to visit in the summer. That's just a fact.
153
Everytime I read an article like this one, I always wonder if the author ever lived in a small or rural town? I myself have grown-up, worked and lived in urban, suburban and small-town America.
I find the key fallacy in this article is the failure to relate fully the "sensibility" of small town life; which is by nature overwhelmingly traditional and conservative. Yes, you will find friends and other like-minded people to connect with; but in truth it often will be harder than you imagine. Furthermore, the culture of conservatism pervades everything including churches, school boards, and even to law enforcement. Being open to new ideas is not one of their strong points. Remember, this is where Trump finds his greatest support: 62% of rural/country voters picked him.
It frustrates me that while rural americans receive far more tax benefits in relationship to what they pay, my rural neighbors often felt a sense of grievance against their government. Somehow they feel they are owed more; all the while holding little interest in the world outside of their community.
Of course there are lots of great small towns and wonderful people to know and love. To this day many of them are dear friends. What I object to is the notion that being "country," or a "farmer," automatically makes you more patriotic or a real american. It doesn't. Just an american like everyone else. There are advantages and disadvantages wherever you choose to live - try and find the right one that fits you.
276
@Eric, a lot of think-tank/elite conservatives romanticize rural living. Not that they would ever move out there.
60
@Eric I second your comments. Small anecdote of note: I once was the recipient of a very friendly and polite but strongly felt argument from a fifth-generation rural Oregonian that his vote at the ballot box should count five times more than that of a newcomer in the area.
34
@Eric
I moved into a rural area (40 acres in the midst of 100's of acres) and found not only politically was I unwelcome, but since I hadn't lived there for 100's of years, they didn't like me or anyone else. One of my neighbors had lived there, as did his grandparents, all his life and inherited his farm from them. He met and married a woman who had not lived there until marriage. Their children, born and raised there, were not considered real natives. Prejudice is one of the reasons people move to more urban places.
20
I haven't even finished the column, and already two things jump out: The drawing of the interracial couple, and the description of the political spectrum dispersal.
While certainly anecdotal exceptions can be found, good luck finding celebrations of "diversity," whether racial, religious or political, in most of rural America.
I think most urban dwellers who relocate to rural America will also find that "moderate" means something different in rural areas than in urban ones, and I don't mean just a little. As my co-worker once said in our little town, "A moderate is someone who, when he encounters someone of a different religion, race or sexual orientation, doesn't immediately cross over to the other side of the street."
47
@Jim
And yet my experience in moving from rural to urban and back again has been that, at least in this area, rural people are more willing to get to know you as an individual before deciding whether they like you or not. In cities it seems that most people are, or choose to be, restricted to only knowing people like themselves, without branching out to meet or get to known those with different backgrounds or views.
2
@Jim You Michiganders are so nice! You must be a Yooper. I recall a Louie Anderson piece from years ago on Johnny Carson when he was talking about driving down the main street of a small town with his father in their pickup. His father saw someone strange on the sidewalk and said, "Louie, hand me the shotgun."
2
@Condelucanor Not quite. The UP is North Michigan; I'm in northern Michigan.
My college-age son, who grew up in our suburban town within a couple hours' drive of several wonderful cities that offer an embarrassment of higher-educational riches, is a country boy at heart and specifically selected a small liberal arts university in a fairly remote area. He loves it, and doesn't mind the lack of amenities, culture, food and retail opportunities that schools in large cities would provide.
My fear is that once he graduates, though, he won't be able to find a job in his field (biochemistry) in the type of rural environment he prefers. Logically I know there are always some niche jobs that might present themselves, but the chances are far smaller than what a city might offer.
He has said he prefers a simple, peaceful lifestyle over huge financial success, so if he can make it work for him, more power to him - I hope he can combine his career with a happy life of his choosing, in some little town with lots of trees and blue sky.
13
@Deliberation
Why couldn't he teach?
@Deliberation It depends on what the wants of course but there are several areas in CA and WA that have wide open spaces and access to nature while being within 20-30 minutes of a major city. These areas are not cheap but they are there.
Years ago, I moved to LA for training after finding out that just outside city limits, places like Topanga Canyon existed where one could go on a long hike without encountering too many people.
The virtues of rural life, clean air , little traffic, the beauty of nature, appeal to many types of people. But as people’s lives become more and more reflective of their on line personas, the realness of rural life becomes less appealing. Concentrating people in high density urban areas is good for natural areas and slows rural development.
Vive le nouveau rurale.
7
@RjW
Nonsense. Self-sustainability is far more viable in small town America (or even small city America) than it is in the absurdly expensive and overwrought big cities.
With online interconnectivity available nearly everywhere today, rural life is overwhelmingly preferable to living in a shoebox at least an hour train ride from any cultural or work opportunities.
I live in rural New England and love it. But I am retired and not looking for a professional job. This article is totally unrealistic in regards to young people just starting out in careers vs. those that are older and established.
Except in rare situations, if you live in a rural area, you will not work there. You will be commuting to the nearest urban area, because that is where the jobs are.
My son, like me, moved to a large metropolitan area upon graduation from college. He has had great, well-paying opportunities. He never would have had those advantages living in this area or any other rural area.
Perhaps he will return one day when he can do consulting from home; but until that day, he is where he needs to be to succeed. Realistically, the same goes for virtually all young people.
137
Broadly speaking, Dr. Abrams may be offering sound advice but what he describes certainly has not been my experience growing up in New Jersey, moving to Connecticut and then to Indiana 29 years ago. Even in the highly educated northern suburbs of Indianapolis, most of the people are jacked up over Jesus and right-wing politics with more than a little comfort with white racial resentment.
201
I'm curious what Dr. Abrams defines as a "rural" community. There's a vast difference between what most people think of by a rural town, and how the U.S. Census, for example, defines it. For the Census, 54.4% of all rural residents live within metropolitan areas. So is living on the outskirts of Atlanta - where curiously a good chunk of Georgia's 'rural' population lives - really rural? If a big city shopping mall is only 15 minutes away, am I really living in Mayberry? Or perhaps Dr. Abrams is just calling the exurban communities that sprang up in the 1990s 'rural.' I can move to Waxahachie just south of Dallas and technically meet the Census department's definition of a rural resident - which is what a lot of college graduates do when they say "I'm moving to Dallas." I wish folks like Dr. Abrams would quit misusing the word "rural."
62
The statistics don't lie. Young Americans move in droves to urban areas. There are many reasons. But the reality is, and the more experience people get the more they learn this, it doesn't matter where you are; what matters is what you do wherever you are. I've lived everywhere from a village of 800 people to a city of 8 million (NYC) - and everywhere in between. I was happy in all the places I found myself not because of the place, but because of what I was doing when I was there (which varied considerably). As long as people are doing things that are somewhat fulfilling, they can live wherever. That's what I've learned.
7
@Joe I once had a wonderful math teacher whose husband was in the military. They traveled constantly. She agreed with you. She would always say, "You can be happy anywhere." Then she'd pause and add, "Except Bismarck, North Dakota." (With apologies to residents of what I'm sure is a great state.)
4
@10034
There are a lot of other great places to live in North Dakota, so no apologies needed.
As a student I found this article appealing and reassuring, since I have a desire to move to a more rural area after graduating college. However this dream I have for living in the countryside is often shot down by the stereotype that I won't find steady work and my degree will go to waste as a result of living in a smaller community. This article provides a plethora of evidence that suggests working in a rural setting is not as inadequate as people commonly make it out to be.
9
Speaking strictly from a jobs perspective, it is risky to move to rural area. In comparison, I've been working in Silicon Valley for 28 years and was recently laid off. Even here, the job market was somewhat limited for a 50 year old (+) tech worker.
If I was in a rural area my only option would be to move or completely change occupations. Even in small urban areas (assuming populations ~ 1M people) the options are limited.
This also seems to be an overly romantic view of rural America and its acceptance of a change culture and economy. One of the major reasons people willingly choose the limitations of urban life (small house, higher cost of living) is that there are more opportunities and there is more acceptance of differences (whatever they maybe).
44
We are part of the fortunate few who reside in a rural environment with all all the advantages of the metropolitan areas and few of the troubling problems. We consider ourselves blessed and humbled by this.
Can we expect this for all (including our own children)? Unfortunately, we know this is unlikely in the near term. In the future, we hope for the greater insight of our fellow citizens in all walks of life to direct us towards a greener future that recognizes the importance of preserving the delicate balance between our natural instincts for discovery and the needs or our delicate natural environment.
13
The problem is, as it is, in the small town I live in, is that rural America doesn't want urban America any where near them.
73
The feeling is mutual.
@Armo We live in a semirural area ten miles from Rehobeth Beach. Everyday I see the drones fron Washington, DC leave their Urban paradise (LOL) to escape, often enduring an hour or more to drive only a few miles on route one to enter the beach town. Many spend four or more hours to drive the 120 miles fron DC.. A local remarked that these overachievers would do anything to escape where they come from. Another echoed most of our thoughts-*they should drop off their money and go home".
NYC has 150+ museums, 250+ live theatre venues, 5 zoos, 4 botanic gardens, 33,000+ restaurants (many with authentic foreign cuisine) and several world-class hospitals. As a port city, NYC has numerous neighborhoods with varied immigrant cultures.
The extensive rapid transit system will allow you to ride forever on its 300+ miles of track for only $2.75 if you don't get off.
What small city can compete with that?
If you're the kind of person who goes to work, comes home to eat dinner and watch a little T.V., you can live anywhere and prosper
For me, living anywhere else would be like Boredomville.
75
@Anonymous
You go to the zoo; I fly fish for trout in beautiful rivers, streams, and ponds, where sometimes I see eagles, moose, beavers, etc.
You go to restaurants; I cook my own food using vegetables and herbs from our garden and meat, eggs, and milk from local farms.
You go to museums; I write, read, print, swim, and play music with my friends.
You have live theaters; I have adventure camping and kayaking trips with my friends.
You go to a botanic garden; I grow my own flowers.
You have world class hospitals; I have clean air, wholesome food, good sleep, and neighbors who care about my well being.
You ride all day in the subway for $2.75; today I rode all day on my bicycle through scenic countryside. It was free.
To each their own...
88
@nh Yes, these are all reasonable preferences just as preference for the urban amenities are. The one tradeoff that doesn't work is the lack of world class hospitals and medical centers - people can live healthy lifestyles anywhere, but we don't have 100%control over our health, especially as we get older. I suspect that healthcare is of much lower quality in most (not all) rural areas.
17
@Larry Figdill
Excellent point. My elderly parents still live in my tiny hometown and are at a lifestage where they have multiple specialists for various health issues. Every one of those specialists is an hour away and it seems like my parents are on the road every week for an appointment.
14
Small towns would do well to mix up their culture by taking in some of the refugees seeking asylum in the US. They would make great neighbors and would help create a more diverse culture that might also attract new college graduates.
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@Richie by Yes, that would be Portland, ME. Read recent issues of the Portland Press Herald to see what is going on here...we have a recent influx of refugees, but have also been welcoming to refugees for years. Portland is a great small city and I am proud of to have our refugee citizens here living with us.
38
@Leslie
Portland is a wonderful city. It offers the best of all worlds. Food, arts, entertainment, the ocean, nearby mountains, you name it. It becomes a more vibrant place by the minute. But drive away from Portland and the coast and you’ll find country folk flying rebel flags. I’m not kidding. They couldn’t care less (if they are aware at all) about Maine’s many noteworthy contributions to the Union cause during the Civil War, not the least of which was the blood of many union troops from Maine. (It was Joshua Chamberlain, a Mainer, who accepted the surrender of the Confederate army at the end of the war). Sadly, much of the rural Maine populace has too much in common with rural whites in the south. It’s troubling. I love visiting Maine, but I loathe the inevitable sight of a rebel flag flying from a house or car every time I drive through a rural inland town.
32
There is a big difference between a vibrant, small city (e.g. Portland, Maine, pop 67,000) which has many suburban amenities (including an airport) and a small, stereotypical truly rural area (population less and 20k and declining). If you pick a desirable growing "rural" area, life can be good and rewarding, but such rural areas will change to have more urban amenities as the population increases. (E.g., San Luis Obispo, CA, Bakersfield, CA,western Loudoun County, VA). The small, isolated Ma and Pa Kettle rural towns/villages (East Aardvark, OK) are losing population and are truly depressing places for 20-30 year olds.
20
Rural America is a great place to live and would be even greater if corporations recognize that the urban business model does not work in rural America but equity in service quality should be the same in rural and urban America Verizon, as a common example may have coast-to-coast coverage but there are fewer bars and slower internet speeds out in the country. When a Walmart closes, the impact is far greater with a rural than an urban closure. Corporate America is amplifying the rural-urban divide.
18
@Jim Tokuhisa A Walmart closing sounds like a good thing......an opportunity for small businesses to offer services tailored to the community's needs, like it used to be.
There is a penalty for living in small towns and rural areas where the numbers of those who comprehend complex and deep issues are simply too small to make a difference to someone whose heart demands interaction with others thus situated. Moreover, the delicious quietude, solitude and slower pace of rural life is always offset these days by the fact that medical expertise especially tends to congregate in cities, requiring sometimes very long commutes by plane in emergency or by other conveyance otherwise. Even so, Dr. Abrams has hit on something here. I like to say to my coastwise friends that my advantage over them is that their culture constantly advertises itself to me whereas I to them or their neighbors am a more or less complete nonentity. Which is okay by some folks. I once heard a Jewish New York lady transplanted to Topeka say in the local newspaper there that she hoped "nobody discovers Kansas," which she learnt to love after she moved here. The one thing that another responder in these columns says (or implies) is also true: the absurdity that the electoral college and our voting systems impose on us is that if we differ from the mostly pervasive Republicanism, our vote for President never counts. But Trumpism has made that obvious to rational minds, and our political system must adapt to it or suffer serious long-term damage.
10
A full life involves having friends and neighbors to enrich your life and serve as resouces should unexpected disasters strike.
When young American adults move away from their parents to start families - and families are KEY to the American experience - they NEED others like them nearby.
This is both a reason to avoid the urban nightmares as well as too isolated a rural environment. Where do kids play safely in a metropolis? WHO do they get to play with out in remote areas?
Our greatest thinkers, writers, and artists have always come predominantly from small towns and cities numbering from the few thousand to a hundred thousand.
Those who have been trained to hate people based only on politics or religion rightfully condemn themselves of smaller, less fulfilling lives. I just wish it coulfd have turned out better for their children.
3
@The Observer
I had both my children in Manhattan. Central Park was 3 blocks away, and I didn’t have to mow the lawn
1
@Observer
Have you been to a major city in the last 20 years? The “urban nightmare” you speak of is not today’s reality. More and more people of means have been raising their kids in cities than you can imagine. There are plenty of safe neighborhoods and parks. Ever hear of a place called Manhattan? Chicago’s north side? Boston? The 1970s are long gone.
1
@Dana Osgood: you can replicate a suburban lifestyle in the city today -- complete with triplex, fancy private schools and a minivan -- but only if you are a multi-millionaire.
I assumed we were talking about people of average means.
For average people, cities today are unaffordable nightmare where they can NEVER EVER hope to buy a home -- not even a condo or co op apartment.
I wonder if the higher percentage of people in big cities expressing dissatisfaction reflects the type of people who gravitate to big cities: restless ambitious people. It’s dissatisfaction that makes people make moves and take risks in their lives. Over my years here in Los Angeles I’ve met a lot of people with huge ambitions. Most of them are from somewhere else, as am I. And I’ve personally felt the dissatisfaction with place, now and then in the quest for cheaper living, but more often for a more concentrated experience of urban life. So I look at real estate ads for flats in London. I truly believe I’d be bored if I were surrounded by people without that restless element.
7
Professor, you are arguing with the marketplace. I doubt the skewed attraction of the young and educated for large cosmopolitan cities is ideological. They move there because the economies are working and creating opportunities. If that were happening in rural America, people would move there and they would create the cultural amenities necessary to entertain them.
If you want to revive rural America, try building universities and associated startup companies that will employ their graduates and attract others to relocate there.
This article assumes somehow that there are all these great opportunities going begging because people don’t want to relocate there for irrational reasons. It makes no sense.
150
@Jazz Paw Time-honored principle: "When the market gives you an answer that you don't like, declare 'Market Failure.'"
10
@Philip Greenspun - Conservatives believe in the infallibility of the "free market." Meaning that people will vote with their feet. Now, of course, a little socialism -- in the form of targeted economic development -- could cause a rural community to be more attractive. But government creating incentives doesn't square with the conservative mindset, does it?
8
I've lived in rural and urban. I liked rural, mostly. But the "higher" you move up the professional ladder, the less likely you are to find a replacement job in rural. For a previous position as a research scientist, that meant if I lost my job for any reason, in my town of 5,000 people, I HAD to move unless I was willing to accept a significant downgrade. Now living in a metropolis of 1,000,000 I still MAY have to move to get a suitable position, but odds are much better not.
As a progressive (for my age) person, I was seldom to never represented at the federal or provincial level by my party or representative of choice.
44
@Paul A colleague of my wife suggested she take a job near our home in far western Colorado after she decided to return to the States from working overseas for 9 years . She told him that she was willing to take a 50% pay cut to be 8,000 mile closer to home, but not a 70% pay cut. We bought a small condo in Denver and she works there and commutes 300 miles home on the weekend. Our 16 year old grandson sleeps on her couch so that he can get a comprehensive high school education preparing him for a decent university. We love it here, but jobs, reasonable pay, cultural events, and educational opportunities are lacking.
2
There are many holes in this argument that are big enough to drive a truck (or hybrid mini) through.
Just because rural people are “satisfied” doesn’t mean rural environments are decent places to live, much less raise children.
Younger people with choices want to get out of their cars and on their feet, bike or subway. They want variety in their food, whether at restaurants or at markets. They want access to airports. They want to send their kids to schools with a critical mass of students, not ones that are constantly on the brink of merging or closing.
Rural life is no longer sustainable, much less understandable. Unless a 20 something wants to go into farming, it’s a no-go.
177
@Cousy If a 20-something wants to go into farming as an individual (as opposed to being a BigAg employee), without an assured large family farm inheritance or a trust fund, it's a no-go.
24
@Cousy
What if you went to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_population_in_New_England
and started considering towns from New Bedford on down? Find one with open spaces nearby because kids need yards.
1
@The Observer Cities are not rural by definition.
2
There's a giant swath of rural and smaller urban America that's solid Trump country. Why would any young person want to saddle himself with neighbors like that?
332
@Ken Solin
Majority Trump country, but not solid. And political issues alone aren't much of a basis of friendship.
8
@Amoret: The politicians and policies we support are a clear indication of our values, and our values are the foundation of every relationship we choose (friendships, romances).
I don't want to spend time or share confidences/experiences with someone who agrees with any of DJT's heinous policies, or disagrees with some (or even many) but voted for him anyway because of misogyny, or because they valued lower taxes (which he didn't deliver) over respect for all persons and respect for democracy.
Please don't pretend that "political differences" are superficial or inconsequential, akin to "I like Thai food and classic movies, but my friend prefers Italian dishes and sci-fi flix."
83
@Amoret Yes, political issues alone are indeed the basis of friendship. I can't imagine becoming friends with anyone who feels Trump's racist, traitorous, religion pimping, ignorance is all right.
11
I’m delighted to report that the Great Northern Kingdom of Vermont is abuzz with small but thriving businesses. By moving back to this area after attending college, businesses such as Hill Farmstead Brewery and Jasper Hill Farms cheese have created numerous jobs in these communities. There’s a new theater. There’s a circus camp. The air is clean. People recycle and welcome neighbors. There’s art and music and friendship at the local store. Bring your children and you’re entrepreneurial energy up here. You’ll find an eager workforce and consideration for your enterprise.
82
Vermont is different.
7
Thanks, Prof. Abrams. I suspect most of the automatic direction towards big cities is based not just on misconceptions*, but also on herd behavior. If more people could think for themselves, the patterns might be different.
*A great measure of misconception was revealed in the Perception Gap project. They asked Liberals/Democrats and Conservatives/Republicans not only their own opinions but also what the "other side" thinks. The errors on both sides are stunning.
6
@Bob Krantz: I have a number of nieces and godchildren who are 22-32 and they ALL moved to very costly big blue cities....where most of them are struggling. None own their own home. All but one or two have very mediocre jobs and live in truly awful, tiny apartments or share with roommates.
But to even suggest going elsewhere than Big Blue cities is met with frosty contempt. If they moved to a medium size town or a red state....they'd lose status in the eyes of their friends and "lefty creds".
It is terribly important to GenZ and millennials to have this, to have bragging rights.
Working as a Starbucks barista in Seattle is "more cool" by far than having a six figure job in Omaha, Nebraska.
Many are dependent on money from helicopter parents way into their 30s, and this is a factor too.
Not possible for some types of careers. Most STEM jobs are in/near large population centers.
26
@Umm..excuse me
The more pervasive bandwidth becomes, the more these careers can thrive. And by thrive, I mean the practical applications of STEM tech to make rural life even more practical.
I'm stuck at 15 MBS. It throttles productivity, but the low bandwidth has not stopped my digital startup in any other way.
2
Employed Rural wins. Unemployed Rural loses. End of story. Finally, I found justification for loving my small.
7
I am a nurse in the central Illinois college town where I grew up. I moved back here with my husband and young son after living in Boulder, Fort Collins, San Francisco. We make the same money we always did, but now we have a good sized home, a lawn, enough for vacations, and we can park right in front of the restaurant we have enough money to eat in! There are tons of job opportunities for both of us. I realize some people just love a bigger city, but it’s college town life for me.
37
@LT: But the AU isn't talking about college towns, which have myriad amenities and reasonable job prospects. He's talking about small towns out in the middle of nowhere, with no easy access to a city or a robust college town.
And Urbana is more robust than many college towns because of its proximity to a major city (Chicago) and a medium one (Indianapolis).
16
Living in rural Oregon, I know many organic farmers who are coming into retirement age. Young people must engage in saving and preserving organic farming. It is so rewarding and a wonderful way to raise a family. Chop wood and carry water if you want a real life.
21
@RCJCHC
When that chainsaw bites you its a long ride to a trauma center
The sweeping generalizations in this article don't really apply to individuals. Additionally, the data that is referenced sort of assumes that college grads who live in urban areas don't differ from college grads in rural areas. There are other variables at play here, and the raw data points don't mean much without acknowledging those differences.
42
@mike
True. Just ticking off educational statistics doesn’t account for the rest of a person’s worldview. One can have an advanced degree and be ideologically conservative, homophobic, or deny climate change.
The liberal, moderate, conservative mix may not be as monolithic as many assume, but the political leadership may be monolithic due to majority voting and/or gerrymandering. That means a liberal will always lose and feel like a second or third class citizen in some of these areas.
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@ronald kaufman: Absolutely not the experience of my friends in Tiny-town, TN, or of Alanna Harkin ("Full Frontal") when she interviewed people in Tiny-Waterside-town, VA, who are convinced that climate change isn't happening (even as it is eroding their hamlet) *and* that adherence to the Bible will save them, because whatever is happening is the Divine's plan.
Watch the interview on YT; it was posted in June, I think.
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There are some highly-skilled professional jobs that need a lot of space. It is difficult to design and prototype jet engines, elevators, or power plants in urban areas, so the engineers and technical workers are typically located in somewhat rural settings.
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There are some highly-skilled professional jobs that need a lot of space. It is difficult to design and prototype jet engines, elevators, or power plants in urban areas, so the engineers and technical workers are typically located in somewhat rural settings.
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Is it my "anti-rural prejudice" that makes me wonder how accepting small rural communities will be to a college educated urbanite strangers moving to their town?
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@Jeff McFarlane I find that when you spend money at their establishments and make yourself a pleasant addition, they at least stay silent. In my experience, at least in the little hamlet I live in part time, there are like minded people, and those who aren't tend to be rather publicly genteel. I've befriended several people who are just thankful that someone has come back and thinks well of their town.
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@Jeff McFarlane: Since you ask, yes, it is.
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@Jeff McFarlane
Yes.
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There are lots of small communities in the nation, and many are having trouble economically.
Schools are unable to offer the learning opportunities and the cultural advantages of urban locations. As one who grew up in and returned to a tiny home town after living in Boston, San Francisco, the Cleveland area and New York City, my experiences led me to begin a nonprofit cultural organization aimed at enriching rural life. We in rural areas know how much more the nation's grant-makers should reach out to support rural America.
Upon graduation, students often do "leave home," and in the process they contribute to their newfound regions. New York theater producer Joe Papp often commented on the number of artists who make their way to the Big Apple (and to Hollywood). Stephen Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" describes the influx to Manhattan from the hinterland also well depicted in Saul Steinberg's famous New Yorker cover of the country west of Hudson as viewed from Midtown.
At the same time, the folks who choose a rural life can go unnoticed for their contributions, including producing food that feeds cities here and abroad.
In my home town, I couldn't watch "Death of a Salesman" with its author Arthur Miller, but his memorable line "Attention must be paid" can be well-applied to rural America. Urban and rural need one another, have much to offer each other. So, yes, attention must be paid.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, MT
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I live in the mid-size city I grew up in and always wanted to return to. I work around the world. You don't have to work where you live, and you don't have to live where you work.
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I live in a town of 20,000 with two highly rated colleges.
About one hour from a major airport.
Landed here totally by accident~!
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Then there are the poor rural areas, including my home in Southwest Georgia. There are professional jobs in education, healthcare, forestry, and hospitality. But we lack adequate education and healthcare; there are plenty of trees and hunting and fishing. If you can work remotely with middling internet, and don't care about education, healthcare, or retail (or progressive politics), it's a terrific, clean and cheap place. Come on down!
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@Susie "Come on down!" Sounds even more boring than my city.
Depends on your skill set, who your employer will be, and of course your choice of location, since the U.S. is hardly a monolith. Yes, some skills are always in demand in rural areas, if you are a large animal vet, a mechanic, a teacher or a doctor, you can pretty much pick your location, communities are begging for your help. If you work for some level of government, you can in most locations be guaranteed high paid work and social status, particularly if the rest of the population is on benefits of some sort or another. If you are happy to swap city life for hunting, fishing, raising animals, or growing a garden, you will probably enjoy yourself. If you want to farm or start certain types of businesses, that's where it's at. And some communities, especially those with a college campus, are much more liberal and community-minded than others, and will provide very different experiences. But what suits one family won't fit all.
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So true. And there are cities in rural states and rural areas in what are considered coastal blue states. As someone who spends time in my suburban home but also farm country, I do NOT see a difference in folks just circumstances: ex. In the suburbs I have no interest in having a gun but on the farm, yes I want a rifle. I find those two things consistent.
Also so many rural areas and small towns are doing well, as long as they seem to be with in 3 hours or so of a suburban area. City and suburban folks are seeking out the charms and products of small town and rural America. I believe the divide isn’t real; just made up conflict to create mistrust, and hate.
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If your specialty is in healthcare or legal, i.e. attorney, life in rural communities can be rewarding for those that seek the "quiet" life. We have a getaway in the mountains of North Georgia, and the professionals here are every bit as qualified as Atlanta.
But, most young professionals seek the big cities, not just for the jobs, but the cultural exchange that can only take place in large metropolitan areas.
Lastly, most four year colleges are located in large metropolitan areas and when the students graduate, it's a natural tendency to remain there and find employment.
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@cherrylog754
"I was raised in the country, been working in the town, I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down". - Bob Dylan
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@cherrylog754: I don't have a breakdown of where colleges are, but my recollection is many of them are in small and mid-sized towns.
I do not think most of them are in big cities at all. Most of the colleges in big cities are state schools.
I live in a rural area. There’s always been a rural vs. urban tradeoff but it’s bigger now than I ever remember. So much of the smart-phone driven life doesn’t work well in rural areas. Try to find yelp reviews for businesses — you’ll find a handful of stale reviews. Don’t even think about Uber. Or having your groceries delivered, or hiring somebody thru Task Rabbit (I think that’s what it’s called). The populations are too small and spread out to make it happen.
And the retail industry, what’s left of it, is dying faster in rural America. Yes, I know, we can buy everything from Amazon (I do). But it makes for a lot of empty storefronts.
There’s a lot to be said for waking up to the song of birds, and being surrounded by nature and green hills and fields dotted with turkeys and deer, and commuting to work on roads lined with daisies and tiger lilies. But I get the feeling that most people prefer to live in a place with Trader Joe’s ( which, when I drive an hour to get to one, is a really cool store).
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@Ker: if you wish to trade nature, trees, wildlife and quiet for Trader Joe's (*a subsidiary of Aldi's -- yup, you are paying for Aldi's generic crap in fancier boxes!) -- go ahead.
It is your choice. Somehow a lot of posters are ASSUMING the author here wants to FORCE people to move, and that's just silly.
There are many fine people everywhere, and there are less fine people also. It is true that people in smaller communities may find success and happiness; but it is also true that there are fewer opportunities of all kinds. Small and middle sized cities all over this country are struggling to find a "reason d'être." This is true in New York, as well as in other parts of the country. Certainly a rural community with a well-known college has an advantage in drawing young professionals that other areas can only dream about. But the state matters; red state, blue state is a real thing, and it is unlikely that someone who is very liberal will settle in a red state, and vice versa. So, Dr. Abrams, while you certainly have a point, it will be a very hard sell.
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What type of consulting in rural areas is the author talking about? After spending years in Northern New Mexico, I only saw a lack of funds to pay for big city amenities like health care and cell service. As an idea this sounds great but my reality was different.
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People in their 20s as consultants? If they consult with people in rural America--if they have enough wisdom and experience to do that--why not do it over the Internet with occasional visits to the rural area?
My mother said, "Always live within walking distance of a major university." Move to a rural area, buy a house, lose your job--and then what? In an urban area, you can rent, you can do temp work... Sure, if you have a huge bank account, risk the move to rural America. Otherwise, a more densely populated area offers more opportunities--jobs, housing, transportation, etc.--if one job doesn't work out. Factor in the closing of rural public schools, the lack of hospitals... explain the appeal of rural America again?
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@jlcarpen
I would add "always live within easy distance of a major teaching hospital".
Especially if, like me, you suffer from some "unusual" health issues.
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This is an interesting Op article. Having been a military brat, lived all over the US (east, west, south and Midwest) and working for the better part of my growing up, and as an adult (Univeristy Professor), I think the arguments in the article about rural economic well being, cost of living all hold very true. But the article misses a lot of other issues for many of the highly educated. Quality of life for a novelty seeker, and educated person is simply not comparable. That is the reality.
1) choices in food and the culture surrounding it. Many of the rural grocery stores are a wasteland, filled with processed food, low quality produce and inferior selections of seafood, veggies and fruit. Sure some have local fruit etc, but the choices are dramatically lower. I’ve lived and traveled in small and mid size (St Louis) US cities.
2) The mindset for change. Having lived in St Louis for 7 years, the affordability is there, but the choices are very limited by comparisonto where I live now (I’m an adventurous person, for many it is probably excellent variety).
3) Airports. Rural areas have limited access, and expensive flights to and from. Sometimes requiring multiple connections. St Louis has limited international flights for example.
So while for some the quality of life is better, affordable, that’s all true. One misses out on many worthwhile experiences in rural and their two city USA. Not to mention the resistance to change and openness of ideologies.
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@Michael You are also a university professor and you consider St. Louis rural? 300,000 people in a metro area of 2.8 million is rural? A population density of 5,000 people per square mile is rural? What is with you profs these days? Did you miss out on basic math? Or was it the definition of rural?
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@Michael St. Louis is hardly rural, but it is a metropolitan region that has strangled itself with racism. It is a southern city in a reactionary state, and that, more than this urban/rural nonsense is likely more salient.
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@Michael
Having lived in St. Louis for four years (1983-87), one thing that struck me was that I rarely met a person who had moved from a larger city to St. Louis. Everybody was either from there or from surrounding smaller town.
There's also the possibility of working remotely in many fields, certainly tech, in less urbanized areas. Where I am now retired, I sometimes feel surrounded by remote-working web developers! Once people realize they can make a decent professional living somewhere other than a crowded expensive city, they move pretty fast.
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What farmland, desert and mountains need is infrastructure.
High speed cheap internet for a start. Farmers need it for actual farming. Businesses need it for, business! I need it to cost less than twice my gas and electric bill.
Spread out over this vast empty country and enjoy life now.
These are the good old days.
I retired to the slow lane as fast as possible.
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@Why worry:
NYC is a great place for retirees, such as my wife and me, who can afford to live here or within easy commuting distance.
NYC has 150+ museums, 250+ live theatre venues, 5 zoos, 4 botanic gardens, 33,000+ restaurants (many with authentic foreign cuisine) and several world-class hospitals. As a port city, NYC has numerous neighborhoods with varied immigrant cultures.
The extensive rapid transit system will allow you to ride forever on its 300+ miles of track for only $2.75 if you don't get off; if you're a senior, it's half that.
For my wife and me, living anywhere else would be like Boredomville.
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@Anonymous
I am never bored! I lived inside Chicago for 50 years. I have been to NYC starting 1964 World's Fair often enough. I rode 6 counties and Chicago transit for free. No car until I moved rural. Here I have free transit, from inside my home to anywhere in 10 counties. And our airport is 3 miles away, a gateway to the world.
I like clean air and less people.
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I don’t know, I visit many midwestern rural towns with my sons’ travel baseball teams. I mostly see too much religion and not enough flavor....
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@mike: I think you mentioned the elephant in the room with the word "religion". I live according to the golden rule and really do do unto others as I would have them do unto me. I am generous and caring and donate to charitable causes both with money and time. Although I have been happily married to a wonderful man for almost 40 years and have three great children, I am not in the least religious and would definitely not fit into the bible belt and abhor the hate-filled invictive that seems to eminate from it.
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@mike
Great riposte! Refreshingly unacademic.
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Good article with valid points. There's really nothing big cities offer except overpriced restaurants with craft beer and craft cocktails. Most of the "cutting edge" art or cultural activities are derivative and boring.
Explore Rural America and discover what it really can offer.
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@John B
OK, but you might want to "explore" a few big cities and see what they have to offer, too, like people from other countries and cultures, museums, sports and outdoor recreation, architecture, universities, etc. The only thing you might have trouble finding is a Trump rally.
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@John B - What a strange evaluation of what it's like to live in a city. I wonder just what you're basing it on, because it certainly doesn't match my experiences of what living in a city is like.
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@mja
Trump rally? Odd thing to say. Isn't Trump from the big city?
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I grew up in a second tier city, Louisville, Ky, where I once thought the Indian, Mexican, and Chinese food was good, which was simply one of the many symptoms of how sure I was of myself. Then I moved to Chicago and learned better.
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I grew up in the country. What I’m scared of in country living is not having a close enough hospital. Also, years ago the high schools often didn’t have advanced math and physics, perhaps that has changed.
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@Bro And, significantly and increasingly, the single hospital remotely available to many rural folk in this country is a Catholic hospital, with the attendant dogmatic political restrictions on healthcare. People concerned about an effective - effective - separation of church and state should agitate for a ban on public dollars - including Medicare and Medicaid - going to support ideologically governed healthcare institutions.
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@Bro County hospitals all over rural America are being threatened. We are lucky; we are only an hour by ambulance from the nearest trauma center. Even more lucky, we were able to organize a county ambulance service 20 years ago. As for math and physics, online is the way to go for our grandkids. But did you ever try to learn statistics or calculus online without a tutor and with a 48k connection?
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@Condelucanor My homeschooled daughter taught herself calculus with just a good textbook. She tested into calc 3 at university. One factor that made the difference, i think, was that I let her look at a number of different resources and different textbooks and choose the one she thought would work best for her. She hates online courses and materials. I'm not by any means saying this would work for everyone, just taking a mild exception to your claim that online with a tutor and high powered internet is required for successful math learning.
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It's not just newly minted college graduates who need to consider this, but others who find they have been priced out of their local real estate market.
In the early 80's, we made a very bad decision and my husband accepted a teaching job in Los Angles; we were living in St Louis at the time. I knew we shouldn't move but he (and his parents) were determined that he accept that job. We sold our St Louis house and over the next 3 years, spent much of the profit we made paying rent on a house in Los Angeles. We were never going to be able to buy a house in a neighborhood that would have been convenient to either my husband's or my children's independent schools. So, we rented and made the best of it.
Six months before our lease came to an end, my husband started job hunting across the country. The goal was not only a school which was a good match, but that it be in an area where we could afford to buy a nice house.
We ended up in Louisville KY and have now been here over 35 years. At the time we bought here, the median housing price was about $60,000; it's now about $160,500. We bought a house for $127,500 and it was in a neighborhood and a size that in LA would most likely have cost over $650,000 at that time.
When my daughter & her spouse were ready to buy a house and have children, they left NYC and moved back here. No regrets. And yes, she has had a fabulous career that has probably been far better than one in NYC.
It's a big country. Explore it.
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@IndiaYes, but Louisville is not rural, not by a long shot.
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@India A friend of mine from Emporia (home of the once-famous William Allen White) relates almost exactly this experience with his daughter, a very talented and brilliant teacher. She and her husband wasted enormous sums of money living in L.A., then moved back to a suburb of Wichita, where her old school district welcomed her with open arms, and she and her husband both found affordable housing and a C.O.L. they could tolerate. I myself have lived in Chicago, New York, Kansas City and briefly in L.A. For its drawbacks, and it has them, my small Kansas town suits me very much better. Thanks for this statement.
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@Norbert
Lots of places in ole KY are rural. Louisville is not remotely rural.
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