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Idea for: People
Diversity makes small towns friendlier Most of the small towns I've seen and visited in Minnesota are mostly homogenous. Just as Prairie Home Companion covers the issues between Catholics and Lutherans and their distrust of each other, even after many years, the real small rural areas are just as tight. We're nice but not really friendly--there's a difference. Diversity is hard in a small town. Maybe part of the overall Minnesota problem is that the entire state is not diverse enough. It takes major disasters to get diverse neighbors to pull together. From Jan Fisher of Pine Island, MN on 05/27/05
Rating:  What qualifies as "diversity"? Is it limited only to skin color and sexual orientation and religious beliefs? If that's the case, maybe our urban centers have too much diversity to qualify as a "community." Think beyond the cookie-cutter mentality of political correctness. From Stephen Lopez of Blue Earth, MN on 11/03/09 Rating:  This is a key issue. Most jobs in rural American demand long hard working hours. As one looks at the ageing demographic of many of rural communities this issue posses a big concern. If rural communities are interested in attracting manufacturing and or related industries to their areas, its immigrants who represent the young populations and who would be interested in coming to rural communities although, many older communities are not as ready to accept changes of new cultures, languages and a different ways of getting things done. From Juan Marinez of Okemso, MI on 11/01/07 Rating: This is a key issue that cannot be taken lightly. I strongly believe that small towns must welcome diversity to survive -(a necessary but not sufficient condition), but we must be aware that this will require many residents to accept a new outlook on life -a true paradigm shift. The question is how can this be done? Traditional thinking remains strong in small towns. The old ways die hard and many of those old ways are not kind to strangers. How can you teach a community openness? From George Erickcek of Kalamazoo, MI on 04/10/07 Rating: I like many of the aspects of small town life. Dealing with intolerant or narrow minded locals is probably the largest deterrent to moving there. I think they need to make a decision. Keep things the same and die as a community or embrace change that respects the attributes of rural life but lives in the current times. Part of that is accepting those who are different or maybe more progressive, urban etc. From Nancy Foust of Sioux Falls, SD on 06/09/05 Rating: Great, but sad that we still think we need a disaster to pull us all together. I have lived in a variety of communitiess, currently small, and have found good people everywhere. Prejudice is the same no matter where you go, and it can always be fought with knowledge. The community awareness that has grown in cities could be nurtured in small towns, if someone would take the time to do it. If you disagree, then maybe it's your prejudice against small towns that needs challenging. From John Wolforth of Sturgeon Lake, MN on 06/06/05 Rating:  Having lived overseas for the past five years (I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco), I can completely understand the point being made. One hand, moving back to the small village (150 people) I grew up in is very appealing as building diversity has to start with someone. On the other hand, I would have to start my own business just to live as it would be hard to find work in my field. Again I think building diversity is a slow process and take 1-2-3 people to kick start the process. From Julie Tritz of St. Donatus, IA on 06/03/05 Rating: As a bisexual woman, I know I'm not going to settle down in a small town because there just isn't the social support. Minnesotans are kinda nice and all, but it's still not a very supportive environment where people actually want to KNOW their neighbours, understand their lives, and embrace their diversity. Working on this, I think, would keep a lot of our young people around who feel that the only way they can be with people "like them" is to go to a bigger city. From LeAnna Lesmeister of Moorhead, MN on 05/27/05 Rating: From Steve Tripp of Waseca, MN on 05/27/05
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