What plays on main street in small town usa are many sour notes. Not dooming, just reporting. I am comfortable, but I don't live large or ever wanted to. Not just surviving, but truly enjoying a simple life. It's easy to do when you have a home and some land. Sure, there's lots of things that would help, a small kubota to move dirt down the road to the other garden spot, some home improvements that would be cosmetic and "nicer". But on main street, the small businesses have sold out, the buildings taken over by "community" resources, in other words, soup kitchens. Small contractors and handymen of all trades, based folks, are hurting due to cost of materials and people not having disposable income to get things done. Dark money is still buying up real estate, millionaires moving in, but the people they want to hire are leaving or cant find a place. The young man who built my fences this summer has no idea of the global economy, or no interest in learning about it. For everyone who trying to live a quiet and happy life and raise their kids normally, it always comes down to groceries and gas, tools and lumber and nails and screws.
I hear you. I see many small businesses shutting down. I hope there is a way that we can deep them going, with AI and the economy of scale competing with them.
" It's easy to do when you have a home and some land. "
That's the hard part. We have the home, but land is priced way, way above us, as it is for many (most?) people. And for those forced to live in urbanized areas, land within driving distance is a pipe dream.
For those in their 80s, 90s and up, tilling the land and doing their own carpentry probably seemed feasible before their retirement, but now looks more distant every day,
We're all keeping the faith, but the Time of Affordable Living is still on the horizon.
What plays on main street in small town usa are many sour notes. Not dooming, just reporting. I am comfortable, but I don't live large or ever wanted to. Not just surviving, but truly enjoying a simple life. It's easy to do when you have a home and some land. Sure, there's lots of things that would help, a small kubota to move dirt down the road to the other garden spot, some home improvements that would be cosmetic and "nicer". But on main street, the small businesses have sold out, the buildings taken over by "community" resources, in other words, soup kitchens. Small contractors and handymen of all trades, based folks, are hurting due to cost of materials and people not having disposable income to get things done. Dark money is still buying up real estate, millionaires moving in, but the people they want to hire are leaving or cant find a place. The young man who built my fences this summer has no idea of the global economy, or no interest in learning about it. For everyone who trying to live a quiet and happy life and raise their kids normally, it always comes down to groceries and gas, tools and lumber and nails and screws.
I hear you. I see many small businesses shutting down. I hope there is a way that we can deep them going, with AI and the economy of scale competing with them.
" It's easy to do when you have a home and some land. "
That's the hard part. We have the home, but land is priced way, way above us, as it is for many (most?) people. And for those forced to live in urbanized areas, land within driving distance is a pipe dream.
For those in their 80s, 90s and up, tilling the land and doing their own carpentry probably seemed feasible before their retirement, but now looks more distant every day,
We're all keeping the faith, but the Time of Affordable Living is still on the horizon.