tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6928912985573791231.post70044319198061375..comments2014-10-20T14:49:31.495-05:00Comments on my $.02: Finding Windom.: just some light reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15549025294098444476noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6928912985573791231.post-10795201238063584032011-02-03T06:44:54.208-06:002011-02-03T06:44:54.208-06:00John mentions one of my concerns about Hollowing o...John mentions one of my concerns about Hollowing out the Middle -- that deep understanding takes time. I'd add to it that I believe that if you've been to one rural community, you've seen one rural community. There's a perception among people that small towns are all the same. They are not. <br /><br />That said, I believe Carr and Kefalas have produced some important insights. First, as I read the book, I began to recognize how my own behavior contributes to the out-migration of young people. I began to see that it would be wise for me to invest more time in young people who see themselves living in Rural America than in those who can't see themselves here. <br /><br />I also think the authors help those of us in rural communities understand what each group of young people (achievers, stayers, seekers, and returners) wants from their lives and the communities they live in. Just as businesses need to understand their customers, rural communities need to understand their potential residents. <br /><br />Like most books, Hollowing out the Middle has its strengths and weaknesses. I look forward to reading your comments after finishing it. And keep up the writing. I think it's great that people with a passion for their communities share their thoughts as you do. We need more of it.Mikehttp://reimaginerural.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6928912985573791231.post-24149267906005935502011-01-28T16:41:13.344-06:002011-01-28T16:41:13.344-06:00I've seen alot of chatter on this book (e.g. A...I've seen alot of chatter on this book (e.g. A Minneapolis Fed review last month: http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4595), but haven't put my request into Plum Creek... yet. I'm just skeptical of one more set of East Coast sociologists coming into the Heartland with preconceptions to prove.<br /><br />Mike Knutson from Miner Co (SD) highlighted a review that summed up my concern:<br />"You cannot drop into a town for a year and come away with deep understandings. Their claim that “there is probably no other place in American society where the rules of class and status play out with a more brutal efficiency than in the world of a country high school” is so howlingly inaccurate that only displaced urban academics could believe it."<br />http://reimaginerural.com/if-youve-been-in-one-rural-community/John Shepardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02075097574686074731noreply@blogger.com