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1/25/10

Bringing Home the Bacon

 Research in the early 1970s found half of respondents would prefer to live in a small town or rural area instead of a suburb or urban setting.

But as it turned out, what they really wanted was to have both - any surprise there? People want the feeling of living in the country but they want all the conveniences and amenities of the city too. In other words they want to commute!

So as usual the Boomers got their wish and moved onto little 5-10 acre plots outside of the cities and built 3,000 sf boxes and planted a horse in the lawn for decoration. For little town fans like me they did some good things including adding to the rural tax base, which improves schools and infrastructure of all kinds. But as far as supporting any of the local businesses in the small towns they moved near, beyond the gas n go at the onramp to the interstate I doubt there was much impact.

But now that we've entered a period where the price of gasoline seems to be stuck above $2.50 I wonder if those folks will start shopping a little closer to home? That would be the idea situation for the small town, commuters carpooling to the city for employment but spending their paychecks at home and building up their local economy.


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Today's Farm News
by Pops

Small Farm Mobbed!



Farm o'the Day:
http://apiferafarm.blogspot.com/

*1 Residential Preferences and Population Distribution 1973

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