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Focusing here on the "Walmart Didn’t Kill the Small Town" part of the story. I recently purchased some land in one of the rare US towns that does not have a Wa

Focusing here on the "Walmart Didn’t Kill the Small Town" part of the story. I recently purchased some land in one of the rare US towns that does not have a Walmart (or any big box store). In fact, there are no big box stores within 100 miles of this town. It's a town with about 2,500 people, all within the town core, almost no population in the outlying areas. Not enough population to support a box store. The business in this town is absolutely booming right now. For example, the coffee shop I was at the other day had eight employees working at the time I was there, and it was quite busy. Main Street is lined with retail merchants that appear to be doing well. Restaurants are packed. People are really nice. I'm even building a business there. About 100+ miles south is a larger, but still isolated, community with a Walmart. It took me about 30 minutes of driving around to find a coffee shop, and the one I finally found was understaffed and mediocre. Most small retail strips were deserted. People in this town seemed miserable. I think there are multiple reasons why the first town is doing so well right now, but the thing that struck me immediately when I came to this town was that there was no Walmart. I really believe that is the main reason this town is thriving.

no_wizard 3y ago
Cherish it, because that's a rare small town in the US. Usually the reason they don't have big box stores is because they're becoming economically desolate by that point where no economic engine can really help it along. I've heard of it referred to as "zombie towns". The fact its that small, and thriving, and I hope has a reason COL, makes it a rare gem. I'm curious too, do you have fiber internet out there? An interesting phenomenon we had in the midwest is that rural-ish areas got fiber to the home years faster than most major urban or suburban metros did because the cost to run the fiber was cheap and often the ISPs out there are co-ops
- RF_Enthusiast 3y ago
  My understanding is that the town had a few rough stretches, but came out strong and resilient on the other side. Yes, COL is quite reasonable, food costs about 60-75% of what it does in the metropolitan suburb area that I'm coming from. The only drawback to the area is that the hospital closed many years ago, but they are in the final planning stages of a new one. So medical emergency costs are temporarily higher. And yes, there is fiber internet. I just looked up the company that provides it, and it's registered as a Cooperative with the Secretary of State.
xethos 3y ago
> I really believe that is the main reason this town is thriving. Well yeah - Walmart (or any major corporation) is extractive. Profits from your small town will not stay in the small town. But where else will the coffee shop owner invest their profits back into if not their business and community?

no_wizard 3y ago

Cherish it, because that's a rare small town in the US. Usually the reason they don't have big box stores is because they're becoming economically desolate by that point where no economic engine can really help it along. I've heard of it referred to as "zombie towns". The fact its that small, and thriving, and I hope has a reason COL, makes it a rare gem. I'm curious too, do you have fiber internet out there? An interesting phenomenon we had in the midwest is that rural-ish areas got fiber to the home years faster than most major urban or suburban metros did because the cost to run the fiber was cheap and often the ISPs out there are co-ops

RF_Enthusiast 3y ago
My understanding is that the town had a few rough stretches, but came out strong and resilient on the other side. Yes, COL is quite reasonable, food costs about 60-75% of what it does in the metropolitan suburb area that I'm coming from. The only drawback to the area is that the hospital closed many years ago, but they are in the final planning stages of a new one. So medical emergency costs are temporarily higher. And yes, there is fiber internet. I just looked up the company that provides it, and it's registered as a Cooperative with the Secretary of State.

xethos 3y ago

> I really believe that is the main reason this town is thriving. Well yeah - Walmart (or any major corporation) is extractive. Profits from your small town will not stay in the small town. But where else will the coffee shop owner invest their profits back into if not their business and community?