‘Too many old people’: A rural Pa. town reckons with population loss
www.washingtonpost.com
There is a deepening sense of fear as population loss accelerates in rural America. The decline of small-town life is expected to be a looming topic in the presidential election.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16862977

‘Too many old people’: A rural Pa. town reckons with population loss

There is a deepening sense of fear as population loss accelerates in rural America. The decline of small-town life is expected to be a looming topic in the presidential election.

…

America’s rural population began contracting about a decade ago, according to statistics drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A whopping 81 percent of rural counties had more deaths than births between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis by a University of New Hampshire demographer. Experts who study the phenomena say the shrinking baby boomer population and younger residents having smaller families and moving elsewhere for jobs are fueling the trend.

According to a recent Agriculture Department estimate, the rural population did rebound by 0.25 percent from 2020 to 2022 as some families decamped from urban areas during the pandemic.

But demographers say they are still evaluating whether that trend will continue, and if so, where. Pennsylvania has been particularly afflicted. Job losses in the manufacturing and energy industries that began in the 1980s prompted many younger families to relocate to Sun Belt states. The relocations helped fuel population surges in places like Texas and Georgia. But here, two-thirds of the state’s 67 counties have experienced a drop in population in recent years.

Non-paywall link

  • HelixDab2@lemm.eeEnglish
    22·
    6 months ago

    You’re being willfully obtuse.

    You’ve created a title that has absolutely nothing to do with the article. You’re acting as though corporations that are buying housing in cities and suburbs are to blame for the deaths of small towns in rural America, and implying that the people that are dying off in rural parts of the country are “hoarding” property. That’s simply false.

    THIS IS THE POINT. You’re taking two completely different things, one of which isn’t even covered in the article you posted, and conflating them to act as though they’re the same thing.

    And no the average person just can’t buy land. That’s like asking someone to just build their own car. Totally possible, been done before by many people, but not realistic.

    …What? What are you talking about? The average person can absolutely just buy land. It’s exactly the same process as buying a house that’s already built, only with a few extra steps, like hiring an architect, and getting a general contractor. You can even use an FHA mortgage–which is the kind of mortgage that most first-time buyers are likely to use–to buy land and get a house built. (You usually can’t built it yourself though, unless you’re also a contractor; the mortgage bank wants to know that you aren’t going to take the money and run, so they want plans, permits, etc.) Most people don’t, because vacant land in cities–which is where most people want to live–is ridiculously expensive.

    Oh and BTW crime per capita is much worse in rural red states than big scary blue cities.

    I’m going to need to see a citation on that. In Georgia, for 2022 the [overall state crime rate is 20.10/1000 people](file:///C:/Users/GA1/Downloads/2022%20Crime%20Statistics%20Summary.pdf). The five counties that comprise Atlanta - Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton - are 30.5/1000, 40.25/1000, 17.16/1000, 14.54/1000, and 9.85/1000 respectively. Only Bibb (city of Macon) and Crisp (very rural) counties have worse overall crime rates than DeKalb county. Very few counties have worse crime rates than Fulton. (I tried to look up Illinois, but for some reason the IL State PD’s site won’t let me see the report.)

    And ALL OF THIS IS IRRELEVANT to your claim that the death of small towns is somehow linked to “real estate hoarders”.

    • SeattleRain@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      You’ve created a title that has absolutely nothing to do with the article.

      Right, it’s my cheeky editorial. It’s a crosspost so of you want to know what the article is really about just read the original tittle.

      THIS IS THE POINT. You’re taking two completely different things, one of which isn’t even covered in the article you posted, and conflating them to act as though they’re the same thing.

      No I’m not. 70% of all rentals are owned by Mom and Pop landlords. Boomers are 2/3rds of all homeowners. These small towns are primarily occupied by Boomers who greed drove out families from small towns and locals that were actually interested in staying. I can tell you living in a big city I meet lots of small town people and many of them say there were driven out by greedy landlords and had to take better paying jobs in the city.

      Elderly people stay in these small towns BECAUSE THEY CAN AFFORD TO. Often because THEY OWN REAL ESTATE. Working families leave BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO STAY even if they would like to.

      People like you act like it’s some mystery why young people leave and old people stay in small towns even though nominally homes are cheaper. IT’S BECAUSE IT’S NOT ACTUALLY CHEAPER.

      These old boomers are entrenched economically so they gut services like schools because they don’t need them, enriching themselves further, then wonder why families don’t want to stay in a place where they’ve got to do everything themselves.

      What? What are you talking about? The average person can absolutely just buy land.

      No the average person can’t develop real estate.

      I’m going to need to see a citation on that. In Georgia, for 2022 the overall state crime rate is 20.10/1000 people. The five counties that comprise Atlanta - Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton - are 30.5/1000, 40.25/1000, 17.16/1000, 14.54/1000, and 9.85/1000 respectively.

      Large blue cities like Chicago have lower crime rates than many Midwestern red cities and towns.

      • mojofrododojo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        6 months ago

        then wonder why families don’t want to stay in a place where they’ve got to do everything themselves.

        eh, I strongly doubt that, but they do wonder why all the labor has moved away and no one wants their pittances anymore. then they blame the avocado toast, throw their hands in the air and donate to trump.