I find two of our Indiana towns facinating to compare, although I know one better than the other, I have worked in both.
Anderson vs. Columbus
Both were industrial towns with GM and Cummins being the big employers. But Columbus has survived so much better, and even before Anderson fell to current lows it never had the cache Columbus did.
Why?
IMO, Because the owners lived in Columbus, simple as that, folks with a stake made their communities stronger and better. Nobody with power lived in Anderson, just a series of GM executives climbing the corporate ladder praying to get back to Detroit with wives that looked down their nose at the locals.
This shows the importance of community and we are living with the negative aspects of mega companies and no one important from them even lives in the state. That all our institutions are mostly controlled by coastal elites is literally killing our country and way of life...
(BTW this is not new thinking for me I noticed the difference in the towns 30 years ago and now it seems to apply to an even larger area.)
Anderson vs. Columbus
Both were industrial towns with GM and Cummins being the big employers. But Columbus has survived so much better, and even before Anderson fell to current lows it never had the cache Columbus did.
Why?
IMO, Because the owners lived in Columbus, simple as that, folks with a stake made their communities stronger and better. Nobody with power lived in Anderson, just a series of GM executives climbing the corporate ladder praying to get back to Detroit with wives that looked down their nose at the locals.
This shows the importance of community and we are living with the negative aspects of mega companies and no one important from them even lives in the state. That all our institutions are mostly controlled by coastal elites is literally killing our country and way of life...
(BTW this is not new thinking for me I noticed the difference in the towns 30 years ago and now it seems to apply to an even larger area.)