Scott Sobocinski
I think most of us have done this: driving past a small town, we note the empty buildings on a deserted Main Street. Maybe there’s a bar with a couple pickups parked outside, the last living piece of a busy downtown. We shake our heads and think to ourselves: “That’s too bad.”
The vehicle is still moving. We turn our attention back to the road ahead. We drive on and leave behind the reminder that so many small towns and local economies across rural America are fading. That is, until we pass through the next small town 20 miles down the road. Another empty Main Street. The problem seems so pervasive and inevitable. This time we mutter: “Such a shame…but what can you do?”