Midwest, Illinois needs to get their act together

•July 24, 2019•
By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

Many rural Midwest towns have become like my stereotype of Appalachia – main streets of mostly empty storefronts; lots of unskilled folks left behind, yearning for jobs “on the line” that are gone forever; too many single mothers struggling to make it on low-wage work, or welfare, lacking the time or know-how to nurture high educational expectations in their children.
Small town decline began at least a century ago, when farm families exchanged horse and wagon for the Model T. They could thus bypass the nearby village and its tiny general store, and head for farm-market towns of 1,000 to 3,000 or so folks, with their greater offerings.
Old duffers like me remember growing up in these towns post-WWII, when parking was hard to find on Saturday evenings. Farm wives bustled in and out of the long row of main street shops, buying, and maybe even bartering fresh eggs for some credit. The municipal band tootled in the park. It was a great time and place to grow up.
My town, and hundreds like it, have now been bypassed for small cities like Princeton, with 7,000 or more folks. These places tend to have a hospital, a good grocery, a couple of big box stores, and maybe better schools than the rural towns.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.