[Simulacra]

I don't care how much longing I might have for the small town I grew up in, I will never go back, and will never consider moving back. It was a bigoted, closed-minded place growing up and it's still that way today. Rural America has very little to offer anyone except cheap housing, and cheap food. Despite the crime, high taxes, high cost of living, and the abundance of traffic, the city is safer.

[shireboy]

"Despite the crime, high taxes, high cost of living, and abundance of traffic" Only that, eh? Kind of hard to argue the city is "safer" when you admit it has higher crime.

You should step back and read your comment objectively. You're essentially saying "I don't want to live there because I disagree with [my stereotyped view of] their political/personal views, and am willing to overlook major indicators of quality of living to live with high crime, taxes, traffic, and high CoL."

I recognize you may have _reasons_ for your stereotype and I don't want to discount them, but for every anecdotal you may have, there is one in the other direction. I've seen bigots in NY and saints in KS. From where I stand, you're the one being close-minded and bigoted by judging people based on how many other people live around them and assuming you are better than them.

[j4_hnews]

Until you get older and realize that you could cash out and benefit from a change of pace.

Get a nice sized house, with money in the bank, grow a garden, listen to the quiet, cut your own lawn, and share the experience with other people, who like you, eventually migrated back to give that small town feel another chance, later in life.

And now that small town has an art gallery. A Starbucks. Some nice restaurants. And town councillors that like you, moved back from the city and have a desire to fix some of what you remember being broken.

Many of the small towns I remember growing up in that were bigoted close minded places, have gradually changed. Not all. But it's happening.

[AstralStorm]

Sadly still too few opportunities and especially faltering health care and education.

[bart_spoon]

I can’t speak for the small town in which you’ve grown up, but I feel like if anything is close-minded, it’s declaring all of rural America as having “very little to offer anyone except cheap housing, and cheap food”.

[eli_gottlieb]

>Rural America has very little to offer anyone except cheap housing, and cheap food.

Those are pretty important to a lot of people.