City vs. Country By Linda Stowe
Back in the early 2000s I used to hang out with this guy Jim. Jim and I mostly went to plays and concerts but sometimes we went on tours of old buildings because we also shared an appreciation of architecture. Jim worked as a housing inspector for the City of Dayton, specializing in historic buildings.
I was still living in Englewood then, but that was about the time when I began thinking about moving back to Preble County. One Saturday afternoon Jim and I took a drive over to Preble County, just to look around. Jim had never been to Preble County so I brought him in over the back roads so that he could get a feel of the beauty and serenity of the rural landscape.
It wasn’t long after we crossed the county line when the sight of an abandoned barn caught his attention. The barn’s paint had faded, and the roof and sides were beginning to buckle. Jim was amazed at the sight, as if we had come across a giraffe grazing in the field. I laughed it off and said that sometimes that happened when people didn’t have the wherewithal to keep things in good repair. A few miles later, we came across an abandoned farmhouse equally dilapidated. Again, Jim pointed it out and wondered why the authorities didn’t do something about it. I said we were out in the country, and I didn’t think there was such a thing as a housing authority in the country. By the time Jim pointed out the third building falling into disrepair, he was beginning to get on my nerves. I headed the car back toward Dayton.
A few weeks later over dinner I mentioned to Jim that I was thinking about moving to Eaton to be nearer to my family. He was aghast. I don’t recall his exact words, but it was something like, “What!? How could you think of moving to such a cultural backwater whose idea of urban renewal is to let their buildings collapse?”
I’d like to say that I got up and left, never to see Jim again but I’m not that smart. But eventually I came to see that my relationship with Jim was as unstable as those old buildings.
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Polly here. It is interesting how different areas shift into different cultural “norms” without much physical distance separating the areas. Preble County is only 20 some miles from downtown Dayton. But there it is. City vs. Country. Slums vs. Suburbs. And more.
Yes. There are the physical differences. But the cultural differences are the things that stand out. I am amazed how “Republican” Red a lot of “country” and rural areas have become when just a few miles away in the heart of the metropolis, a far more progressive “Democratic” Blue prevails. While this isn’t true for all large cities and rural areas, it seems to be a large and ongoing trend.
I’m not exactly sure why this is.
City vs. Country By Linda Stowe
