5 ms·

I am skeptical that this can scale well. Not every small town can have an expensive college or university. And besides, the towns that do get/have these instit

I am skeptical that this can scale well. Not every small town can have an expensive college or university. And besides, the towns that do get/have these institutions become gentrified and all of the the original residents get pushed to nearby small towns by professionals from more affluent regions. In the end you end up with an upscale, expensive small town and surrounding depressed blue collar towns. Source: I’m from a small town with a university.

fspacef 8y ago
Currently in Pittsburgh, PA and I'm seeing this happen on the daily.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  I was born in Pittsburgh. Are you saying it's becoming a gentrified college themepark surrounded by hovels?
stevecalifornia 8y ago
San Luis Obispo is a good case. Really expensive. None of the graduates can really live here. Also, very gentrified. The mayor recently said that she didn't want to be mayor of a town that's all old white people. Not sure how that's not incredibly racist-- but you get the point.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  The mayor recently said that she didn't want to be mayor of a town that's all old white people. Not sure how that's not incredibly racist Perhaps the assertion of racism isn't quite true, because to be really complete, you'd have to add ageism.
- gowld 8y ago
  It's not racist to not want to drive away non-white and young people.
  - whatshisface 8y ago
    That's also not what they mayor said. You could interpret it charitably, but normally you have to take what public figures say and subtract some charity, because they are incentivized to hide what they're really thinking to avoid arousing opposition. After all, politicians are the ones that the phrase "being political about it" came from - their profession is to make everything they say as unobjectionable as possible while still indicating their position to their supporters.
- drb91 8y ago
  It’s hardly racist to express personal preference. It’s also not the same as saying “I don’t want any old white people in this town”.
  - trentmb 8y ago
    > It’s hardly racist to express personal preference. I mean, it's a racist personal preference. Caring about whether the expression of it is racist seems besides the point?
    - drb91 8y ago
      I am probably being too pedantic here, as it is certainly unethical to state that publicly as a mayor. I only mean to convey there’s no such thing as an unethical thought, only unethical actions. Among other things, it is certainly socially acceptable to date or socialize mostly with people inside your own race, and I don’t know of many people who would hold this behavior to be racist. EDITS: wording, clarity. Apologies.
      - whatshisface 8y ago
        >there’s no such thing as an unethical thought, only unethical actions Gladly throwing myself in the pedantry to avoid the real discussion, the only reason we listen to other people at all is that their words are related to their thoughts and their actions. So, the reason you'd admonish someone for saying something horrible is that they indicated they were thinking something horrible, which gains status as horrible because it congruent with a mind that would do something horrible.
        drb91 8y ago
        You’re right. If they had said something slightly different, I would be mad. It certainly isn’t behavior to condone. In a political context, it probably is racist. That said, I still do not think I would call it racism. Most of us prefer to be around people our own age when given the opportunity—for shared culture, lifestyles, etc. Is that ageist? I really don’t think that bigotry really applies here. It’s much more useful to apply solely to actions, which are easier to reason about. Discriminatory personal preference can certainly be harmful, but it seems like a distinct social phenomenon to bigotry. More pedantry... > So, the reason you'd admonish someone for saying something horrible is that they indicated they were thinking something horrible No, the reason would be fear that they would act on their thoughts, or because their speech did affect people, not that their thoughts are themselves immoral.
- hexane360 8y ago
  She shouldn't have to specify "I don't want to be the mayor of a town that's all any race" because the only race that has any chance of dominating her town is non-hispanic white. Similarly, it's not heterophobic to say "I don't want to work someplace where they don't hire gay people".
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  I imagine no one would be offended had it been couched in different terms as desiring a more diverse and vibrant community with more of a future. Agism or not, it's generally true that small towns with a lot of old people are typically towns in their death throes and white enclaves are typically practicing some form of racial exclusion.
- pesmhey 8y ago
  Punching up vs. punching down. Still a pretty mean thing to think or say.
anonymous5133 8y ago
Of course it can't scale. Traditional universities by definition are expensive. People like to think of education as being a quality problem but the real issue is education is too expensive for most. We are better off with lower quality education that is affordable by all.
wenc 8y ago
Also, the economy in college towns is very seasonal, plus if they are located in geographies with harsh weather, retail businesses are going to see a lot of peaks and troughs in foot traffic. Not all businesses are equipped to handle this type of fluctuation. Inventory forecasting becomes really hard, and business risks are increased. Restaurants that serve cheap-eats (e.g. Chinese restaurants) tend to be ok since they have low overheads and are designed to handle peaking volumes easily (stir fries are easy, and most are family owned). But shoe, book retailers etc. will suffer in the summer when school's out, and in the winter when nobody's out and about.
sjg007 8y ago
I mean, not everywhere. Minnesota has plenty of small colleges and housing near by can be very cheap.

fspacef 8y ago

Currently in Pittsburgh, PA and I'm seeing this happen on the daily.

stcredzero 8y ago
I was born in Pittsburgh. Are you saying it's becoming a gentrified college themepark surrounded by hovels?

stevecalifornia 8y ago

San Luis Obispo is a good case. Really expensive. None of the graduates can really live here. Also, very gentrified. The mayor recently said that she didn't want to be mayor of a town that's all old white people. Not sure how that's not incredibly racist-- but you get the point.

stcredzero 8y ago
The mayor recently said that she didn't want to be mayor of a town that's all old white people. Not sure how that's not incredibly racist Perhaps the assertion of racism isn't quite true, because to be really complete, you'd have to add ageism.
gowld 8y ago
It's not racist to not want to drive away non-white and young people.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  That's also not what they mayor said. You could interpret it charitably, but normally you have to take what public figures say and subtract some charity, because they are incentivized to hide what they're really thinking to avoid arousing opposition. After all, politicians are the ones that the phrase "being political about it" came from - their profession is to make everything they say as unobjectionable as possible while still indicating their position to their supporters.
drb91 8y ago
It’s hardly racist to express personal preference. It’s also not the same as saying “I don’t want any old white people in this town”.
- trentmb 8y ago
  > It’s hardly racist to express personal preference. I mean, it's a racist personal preference. Caring about whether the expression of it is racist seems besides the point?
  - drb91 8y ago
    I am probably being too pedantic here, as it is certainly unethical to state that publicly as a mayor. I only mean to convey there’s no such thing as an unethical thought, only unethical actions. Among other things, it is certainly socially acceptable to date or socialize mostly with people inside your own race, and I don’t know of many people who would hold this behavior to be racist. EDITS: wording, clarity. Apologies.
    - whatshisface 8y ago
      >there’s no such thing as an unethical thought, only unethical actions Gladly throwing myself in the pedantry to avoid the real discussion, the only reason we listen to other people at all is that their words are related to their thoughts and their actions. So, the reason you'd admonish someone for saying something horrible is that they indicated they were thinking something horrible, which gains status as horrible because it congruent with a mind that would do something horrible.
      - drb91 8y ago
        You’re right. If they had said something slightly different, I would be mad. It certainly isn’t behavior to condone. In a political context, it probably is racist. That said, I still do not think I would call it racism. Most of us prefer to be around people our own age when given the opportunity—for shared culture, lifestyles, etc. Is that ageist? I really don’t think that bigotry really applies here. It’s much more useful to apply solely to actions, which are easier to reason about. Discriminatory personal preference can certainly be harmful, but it seems like a distinct social phenomenon to bigotry. More pedantry... > So, the reason you'd admonish someone for saying something horrible is that they indicated they were thinking something horrible No, the reason would be fear that they would act on their thoughts, or because their speech did affect people, not that their thoughts are themselves immoral.
hexane360 8y ago
She shouldn't have to specify "I don't want to be the mayor of a town that's all any race" because the only race that has any chance of dominating her town is non-hispanic white. Similarly, it's not heterophobic to say "I don't want to work someplace where they don't hire gay people".
DoreenMichele 8y ago
I imagine no one would be offended had it been couched in different terms as desiring a more diverse and vibrant community with more of a future. Agism or not, it's generally true that small towns with a lot of old people are typically towns in their death throes and white enclaves are typically practicing some form of racial exclusion.
pesmhey 8y ago
Punching up vs. punching down. Still a pretty mean thing to think or say.

anonymous5133 8y ago

Of course it can't scale. Traditional universities by definition are expensive. People like to think of education as being a quality problem but the real issue is education is too expensive for most. We are better off with lower quality education that is affordable by all.

wenc 8y ago

Also, the economy in college towns is very seasonal, plus if they are located in geographies with harsh weather, retail businesses are going to see a lot of peaks and troughs in foot traffic. Not all businesses are equipped to handle this type of fluctuation. Inventory forecasting becomes really hard, and business risks are increased. Restaurants that serve cheap-eats (e.g. Chinese restaurants) tend to be ok since they have low overheads and are designed to handle peaking volumes easily (stir fries are easy, and most are family owned). But shoe, book retailers etc. will suffer in the summer when school's out, and in the winter when nobody's out and about.

sjg007 8y ago

I mean, not everywhere. Minnesota has plenty of small colleges and housing near by can be very cheap.