View Full Version : Is where you live gaining stature?
gimmethesimplelife
7-28-20, 3:12pm
I'll go first, chiming in from Arizona. My take is that we are indeed gaining stature - we have become a battleground state and will supposedly be fiercely contested going forward, though what exactly does "fiercely contested" mean in the age of Covid? We also have a Mayor - Kate Gallego, Democrat and the Phoenix Mayor - who has made numerous TV media appearances in regards to the bumbled Arizona reopening.
I'd even say that due to our bumbling, Trumppuppet Governor Ducey, we have even gained notoriety - but not the positive kind - with our high Covid numbers since our reopen/partial close.
But what about where you live? And just to be clear, stature does not have to be Covid-related. Rob
What does "stature" mean, in the context of this question?
gimmethesimplelife
7-28-20, 4:43pm
What does "stature" mean, in the context of this question?Fair question, bae. Nationwide attention and prominence of some sort domestically - how's that for a definition? Rob
Living in St. Paul, Minnesota, which, as any St. Paulite will tell you, is a completely separate city from Minneapolis, I would note that Minneapolis has had more than its share of nationwide attention and prominence over the last few months but I would not, in any way, call that an increase in "stature".
ETA Rob, would you like to amend or clarify your definition?
Fair question, bae. Nationwide attention and prominence of some sort domestically - how's that for a definition? RobAre you sure you don't mean notoriety instead of stature?
Shitcago is getting known for even worse violence in the hood. A number of children have been shot and some killed.
I live in the burbs not the city itself.
Massachusetts was third worst in the nation in covid stats and no one wanted us visiting them. Maine and Vermont still don't but some other states are welcoming us now.
Massachusetts was third worst in the nation in covid stats and no one wanted us visiting them. Maine and Vermont still don't but some other states are welcoming us now.
I see on worldometers.info that Vermont has the LOWEST # of COVID cases in the nation. (yay, VT!) I think Massachusetts has gotten a lot better. The Northeast as a whole is really doing much better. Hope it stays that way.
ETA: My friend/realtor just posted this article from The New Yorker on Facebook: What Vermont and Its History Might Teach The Nation About Handling The Coronavirus by Bill McKibben
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-vermont-and-its-history-might-teach-the-nation-about-handling-the-coronavirus
Teacher Terry
7-28-20, 6:48pm
We were doing so well until they opened the casinos and bars. Ugh!
Why care about what other people think of where you live, if you like it?
Why care about what other people think of where you live, if you like it?
Because they all decide this is a cool place, move here, and mess it up :-)
flowerseverywhere
7-28-20, 10:16pm
Well Florida is definitely not gaining stature. Unemployment benefits were incredibly difficult to get even for those with no question of eligibility. Covid testing has been difficult and unreliable. The governor has said schools must open. Our death toll is over 6,000 and climbing.
I’m hoping for changes come November but not holding my breath. I have no respect for DeSantis who refuses to protect the lives of Floridians, especially the poor. But he is nondiscriminatory when it comes to the virus and promoting exposure to it for the almighty dollar for rich people. We were the last to close, and among the first to open. I would move if I could figure out where to go, and I love the weather here
ApatheticNoMore
7-29-20, 1:06am
Corona-virus response, not too well here, opened up way too fast. But who knows maybe it's all financially driven anyway, how a state responds. Because I don't really buy the theory that some reopening protestors representing a minority of the population (though a part that is going to cause disproportionate trouble) was really the cause.
"Could you see whether states that rely on tax revenues that weren’t coming in during the early months of the crisis were more likely to reopen? Philip Rocco, an assistant professor of political science at Marquette University, gave it a try. Rocco explains his experiment and shows his results here. It’s a nifty little model. He used the Kaiser Family Foundation database for reopening and assigned a value to states that have reopened. He then measured this against state income tax policies, while adding controls for taxable resources, rates of cases, state population totals, and even whether the state has a Republican governor and how heavily it voted for Trump. Holding all of that constant, here’s what he found: “a shift in states’ revenue share derived from the income tax from 5 to 10 percent is associated with a 43 percent increase in the probability of reopening."
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-cares-act-really-did-induce-premature-state-reopenings/
I mean there are some cultural differences in parts of the country. And New York learned the hard way. But the bad decisions to rush reopening, maybe they were all about economic desperation in local government, it definitely seemed that's what drove it all (protestors that don't represent a blue state anyway, were useful, but just implausible as being that important). I mean the govt. had actual plans for how to reopen, always a bit vague, but they threw them all out the window. And the talk about how they would make decisions based on science, yea, talk is cheap.
The Federal government CAUSED this by not helping states and cities. And it's not funding test and trace enough to really improve the situation in the future either. So we'll swing between virus spread and if it gets totally out of hand further shutdowns (already have long term partial shutdown here) as nothing else is left. The Fed gov will not fund a real response. I do wonder why we never did much contract tracing here, but maybe it's just we opened up too soon. I'm sure of course there is also a link between how hard a state was hit and poverty in that state as well. Really it's basic, crowded living conditions (and I don't mean apartments, I mean 20 to an apartment unit :)), high risk jobs that they forced people into even in lockdown but forced FAR more people into afterward, etc..
Local gov? Oh I'd like to see some people primaried. But I'm not sure the buck really stops there, because they can't create bucks to begin with.
As for difficulty collecting unemployment, that's going on here too.
gimmethesimplelife
7-29-20, 11:44am
Are you sure you don't mean notoriety instead of stature?Your question here intrigues me. Alan. I wonder - has society sunk so far that notoriety = stature? I'm 50/50 on this one. Rob
Kansas has moved from solidly red to dark pink in the latest electoral college forecast. Color me cautiously optimistic. https://www.270towin.com/news/2020/07/24/cook-political-moves-florida-leans-democratic-latest-electoral-map-outlook-_1070.html
happystuff
7-29-20, 5:12pm
Because they all decide this is a cool place, move here, and mess it up :-)
That is exactly what happened to the nice little farming town we moved into 30 years ago. Sigh...
That is exactly what happened to the nice little farming town we moved into 30 years ago. Sigh...
Yep, same here with my hometown. ~~~~"I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone!"~~~
dado potato
7-29-20, 7:56pm
Because they all decide this is a cool place, move here, and mess it up :-)
In crass self interest, I don't move often, but when I do, I am grateful for a general increase in the selling price of real estate.
My town has potential to attract people who are retired, enjoy 4 seasons of the year, prefer their bratwurst to be hand-made in a butcher shop. and don't mind being more than 50 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart.
Our chief of police is in the news, because he let the City Council know that one particular bar is responsible for the majority of 911 calls to deal with bar fights, drunk-and-disorderly. etc. And the bar owner appeared at the council meeting to express her appreciation of the police department. In her view, her bar is the most popular bar in town (busier than the other one, in fact). thus there would be predictably more deviance there. That is our law enforcement issue, and I am confident it will be sorted out.
Because they all decide this is a cool place, move here, and mess it up :-)
Then I’m pretty safe.
My town is full of dreadfully lazy people who can’t be bothered to burn down, loot or or otherwise break eggs in a zeal for social justice. I’m not aware of a single friendship here that was terminated over politics, or a single instance of people freaking out over lawn signs or bumper stickers. That’s how little they care about the important things in life.
Our politics seems about evenly divided between Trump people and Democrats of the old fashioned pro-union or liberal varieties. Someone seeking an intellectual ghetto would be disappointed.
We don’t get a lot of types who want to leave the city for life in the country, and then erect barriers to anyone else wanting to do the same thing. That would be considered rude by these unenlightened rubes. Think of Vermont without all the tri-state transplants
If harsh winters are a deal breaker, you won’t find much sympathy here.
If exotic restaurants or shops are a status marker for you, you will probably be disappointed. The locals wouldn’t know enough to be impressed.
This is an awful place fit only for barbarians like me.
No "exotic restaurants" might be a deal-breaker for me. Unless you mean "over-priced restaurants that serve sauce daubs on a plate."
Teacher Terry
7-30-20, 1:46pm
Northern Wisconsin is beautiful but winter is brutal. I lived in a small town once and there’s nothing to do and everyone knows your business. Even Kenosha with a 100k people lacks things to do.
Northern Wisconsin is beautiful but winter is brutal. I lived in a small town once and there’s nothing to do and everyone knows your business. Even Kenosha with a 100k people lacks things to do.
I'm actually considering a move to Madison in the next year or two. That's where my diving instructor is and there's lots to do, with it being a university town. All the local lakes to dive.
Teacher Terry
7-30-20, 2:43pm
Madison is a very nice town. With the big university there’s probably a lot to do. Also it’s not up north so winters aren’t as bad.
Madison is a very nice town. With the big university there’s probably a lot to do. Also it’s not up north so winters aren’t as bad.
Remember, I like cold, so that's not an issue. Plus, I have a work from home job, so wouldn't have to worry much about commuting in the snow. A lot will depend on cost of living up there.
Rumor has it from my real estate agent neighbor that her big, expensive properties around the Madrid, NM area are garnering a lot of interest from people wanting to escape California. They are going have to have a strong sense of adventure before going into buying anything here in poor, rural New Mexico. Locally, we have spotty internet, no local police, a rather large drug problem, plenty of burglaries, and packs of roaming dogs. I love it but hate it when people move here and haven't done all the proper research, then have this expectation that they can transfer the cushy lives from wherever they are coming from and set it up here in the "outback". I live in a throw back era where word-of-mouth gets you the right trades person and car repair person. You have to develop relationships out here, be flexible, very patient and be able to give-and-take as situations arise. I learned that almost instinctively within the first few weeks after moving here; it was a very abrupt change that I had not considered when I moved from urban Michigan.
I love it but hate it when people move here and haven't done all the proper research, then have this expectation that they can transfer the cushy lives from wherever they are coming from and set it up here in the "outback".
I have been having an on-going discussion with an on-line friend of mine who lives near (but is unaffected by) the Ozarks. He envisions a great exodus from cities in the wake of the pandemic since "now you can work from anywhere, so why would you want to live in a city"? Never mind that if you don't have that kind of job (which most people do not), your options in his little town (or near it) are quite limited. Never mind that his wife has an hour-long commute to her corporate job. Or even that picking up something you forgot at the supermarket requires a couple of gallons of gas for the round-trip to Walmart. That life works for him and that’s fine; no need to change what's working, eh? But I don't let him complain about crappy Internet access or how long it takes to drive to stores other than Walmart.
Every place has choices and consequences. But as city folk move out beyond the suburbs, they will not be able to reasonably expect "city" levels of services (plowing, hospitals, etc.). I hope they do their research or they may make an unhappy mistake. And then find out they won't be paid big city (HCOL) wages for living in LCOL areas. HR departments caught up to that some time ago for on-site workers; I suspect they'll figure it out for remote workers as well.
happystuff
7-31-20, 7:57pm
Madison is a very nice town. With the big university there’s probably a lot to do. Also it’s not up north so winters aren’t as bad.
It will be interesting to see what happens to these university towns/cities with more classes being virtual and a reduced number of students no longer needing to be on a physical campus.
Teacher Terry
7-31-20, 8:51pm
Attending college in person is so much better and remember I teach a online college class. You have great spontaneous discussions. Online you have a discussion board and you have time to craft your response. Especially at the bachelor level it’s important.
I edited on-line college coursework in my last job--probably the only one I ever had I could do from home.
Exurbs don't appeal to me, in the same way that country living holds no appeal. Not much to do, but lots of space to do it in.
I agree completely, Terry. I know my alma mater in Massachusetts is going with full undergraduate in person classes, although they are making a lot of changes in the physical environment and housing, and they are cutting classes by 1 per semester, so that 3 classes is a full load.
My brother's alma mater, Harvard, is only taking the freshman back and the seniors, but he said the freshman are going the first half of the year and the seniors the second. So that is in effect 25% occupancy.
My son's alma mater, Emerson, also in Boston, is doing a big modification thing, but still holding in-person classes.
It's so interesting to see all the different approaches.
happystuff
8-2-20, 10:50am
I'm definitely a better in-class learner. If I don't have the "I must get there - I must do this" schedule, I have a tendency to slack off more than I should.
ApatheticNoMore
8-2-20, 2:26pm
I'm definitely a better in-class learner. If I don't have the "I must get there - I must do this" schedule, I have a tendency to slack off more than I should.
Taking a class at all tends to provide enough of that structure for me (I've taken lots of online classes with grades, the class is the structure). Self-study with no class structure AT ALL and slacking off goes on (even then I've managed to teach myself stuff - but more tendency to slack it all off). Long ago when I was college aged and in class, I learned the vast majority of what I learned in many classes (especially more technical classes, maybe I'm only so smart, maybe I need time to absorb the material) from the textbook, and class itself seemed almost superfluous for some classes, but I'd attend for the most part.
But the late teens and early 20 somethings want the social life. Yea, of course, that's only natural, however, we're in a pandemic.
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