Speaking of being offended: cmt pulls Jason aldean video

[Bozo_Casanova 26460]

13 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

brother? 

it was... I was there. Twas a weird night. 

Wait I thought 9 irons at midnight was Paul Kamprath (RIP) vs Jason (drawing a blank on his handle)

Edited July 21, 2023 by Bozo_Casanova

[hayden_horn 11362]

5 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Wait I thought 9 irons at midnight was Paul Kamprath (RIP) vs Jason (drawing a blank on his handle)

wait, paul passed away?

hitbyatrain.

i remember meeting them both i want to say at shoal creek saloon. think i met northloop there once. maybe it was the same time

hell, i met you at doc's i want to say. with a bunch of other internet dudes. totally normal stuff.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

31 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I was in college during the Napster days and there was a super racist song going around (real racism not tongue in cheek) called “Ni—-r Hatin’ Me” that was incorrectly identified as by David Allen Coe. I thought for years it was crazy that he was still popular and in every jukebox. It was years later I found out it was someone else named Johnny Rebel or some shit. I suspect there are a lot of people who remember that and don’t know it wasn’t DAC.

Yup.  Johnny Rebel's the guy's name and a lot of his absolutely vile shit was improperly ID'd as DAC.  Just like The Gourds' cover of Gin & Juice was labeled as Phish on Napster despite clearly not being Phish.

The "X Rated Hits" album by DAC does drop the N word a few times, but if you're paying any attention it's obvious that the character using it in the song is a fucking chump.

[Willfully Horn 8017]

2 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Got any video?  

Haven’t seen one, no. They said they had rehearsed it once; the performance was magic.

[NorthLoop 14203]

20 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Wait I thought 9 irons at midnight was Paul Kamprath (RIP) vs Jason (drawing a blank on his handle)

 

14 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

wait, paul passed away?

hitbyatrain.

i remember meeting them both i want to say at shoal creek saloon. think i met northloop there once. maybe it was the same time

hell, i met you at doc's i want to say. with a bunch of other internet dudes. totally normal stuff.

hitby wasn't there that night - it was me, P01D, and 2 other guys. Can't remember their handles. Maybe one of them was Wix's husband? Dunno - those years a are all a blur. 

[Guadaloopy 10970]

4 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I’ve seen a bunch of idiots sharing memes saying “You think Jason Aldean is bad?  You should hear David Allan Coe.”

1) DAC was actually a good artist who wrote some great songs.

2) DAC’s offensive material was never played on radio or TV.

3) Said offensive material was pretty clearly tongue in cheek, with the racist or misogynistic protagonist turning out to be the butt of the joke.

Fuck, people are dumb.

I'm not so sure about that.  "If That Ain't Country" comes off more nostalgic than satirical.  Gave it a relisten just now.  I'll let you take a guess what happens at the "most replayed" moment.

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1291]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:10 PM, jimmyjazz said:

I finally listened to the "song" . . . holy shit, it's worse than I expected, but beyond that, it TOTALLY mines the "Creed as a country act" vibe he's always given off, which aligns perfectly with the fact that Creed has reunited.

I mean, the guitarist is playing a Paul Reed Smith, the melody is non-fucking-existent, it's so bad that ChatGPT wouldn't write something that bad.  Jesus, he sucks, hard.

(Verse 1) Out here in the heartland, where the dust meets the dawn, There's a town that's seen its share of troubles, but we carry on. Now, I'm watchin' TV, seein' angry faces fight, Protests and riots, tearin' through the night.

(Pre-Chorus) But hey, let me tell ya, there's somethin' you should know, We got a different way, and it's time to let it show.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Verse 2) We got no city lights, just stars up in the sky, And we may be laid-back, but don't take it as a lie. Our strength lies in unity, the ties that bind, We protect what's ours, with hearts strong and kind.

(Pre-Chorus) I'm speakin' up, gonna make my voice ring loud, It's time to rise together, show 'em what we're all about.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Bridge) We're a family, neighbors hand in hand, With shotguns and rifles, we protect this sacred land. If you come with violence, tryin' to tear us apart, You'll meet resistance, the strength within our hearts.

(Verse 3) We believe in freedom, and we'll fight for what's right, But we won't let anger lead us down a path of endless night. So let's come together, in peace and harmony, In our small town, love's the remedy.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Outro) In this small town, love abounds, Angry protests, don't you dare come around.

 

I still haven't heard this crappy song yet, so no idea if ChatGPT did it better.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

8 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

I'm not so sure about that.  "If That Ain't Country" comes off more nostalgic than satirical.  Gave it a relisten just now.  I'll let you take a guess what happens at the "most replayed" moment.

I forgot that one.  It clearly isn’t used maliciously there, although it would be obviously wildly inappropriate today.  
 

I was thinking of N F’er.  Where the narrator is disgruntled because his woman left him and his small dick

[closetohumping 17442]

5 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

(Verse 1) Out here in the heartland, where the dust meets the dawn, There's a town that's seen its share of troubles, but we carry on. Now, I'm watchin' TV, seein' angry faces fight, Protests and riots, tearin' through the night.

(Pre-Chorus) But hey, let me tell ya, there's somethin' you should know, We got a different way, and it's time to let it show.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Verse 2) We got no city lights, just stars up in the sky, And we may be laid-back, but don't take it as a lie. Our strength lies in unity, the ties that bind, We protect what's ours, with hearts strong and kind.

(Pre-Chorus) I'm speakin' up, gonna make my voice ring loud, It's time to rise together, show 'em what we're all about.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Bridge) We're a family, neighbors hand in hand, With shotguns and rifles, we protect this sacred land. If you come with violence, tryin' to tear us apart, You'll meet resistance, the strength within our hearts.

(Verse 3) We believe in freedom, and we'll fight for what's right, But we won't let anger lead us down a path of endless night. So let's come together, in peace and harmony, In our small town, love's the remedy.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Outro) In this small town, love abounds, Angry protests, don't you dare come around.

 

I still haven't heard this crappy song yet, so no idea if ChatGPT did it better.

That sounds awful and onery.  Also does "angry faces" mean "blacks?"

[DickSolomon 25]

Country Music fans are the biggest fucking pussies in the goddamn world holy shit

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1291]

2 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

That sounds awful and onery.  Also does "angry faces" mean "blacks?"

Quote

I apologize if my previous response conveyed any unintended implications or stereotypes. The phrase "angry faces" was not intended to refer to any specific racial or ethnic group. It was used more generally to describe the expressions of anger and frustration that may be seen during protests and riots, regardless of the racial or ethnic background of the individuals involved.

It's crucial to avoid language that may perpetuate stereotypes or promote divisiveness. As a songwriter, it's important to approach topics such as protests and riots with sensitivity and empathy, focusing on the broader themes of unity, understanding, and finding common ground.

If there are any specific concerns or preferences you have for the song's lyrics, feel free to let me know, and I'll be more than happy to adjust them accordingly.

ChatGPT is walking it back just like Aldean.

[Deej 76791]

8 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

(Verse 1) Out here in the heartland, where the dust meets the dawn, There's a town that's seen its share of troubles, but we carry on. Now, I'm watchin' TV, seein' angry faces fight, Protests and riots, tearin' through the night.

(Pre-Chorus) But hey, let me tell ya, there's somethin' you should know, We got a different way, and it's time to let it show.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Verse 2) We got no city lights, just stars up in the sky, And we may be laid-back, but don't take it as a lie. Our strength lies in unity, the ties that bind, We protect what's ours, with hearts strong and kind.

(Pre-Chorus) I'm speakin' up, gonna make my voice ring loud, It's time to rise together, show 'em what we're all about.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Bridge) We're a family, neighbors hand in hand, With shotguns and rifles, we protect this sacred land. If you come with violence, tryin' to tear us apart, You'll meet resistance, the strength within our hearts.

(Verse 3) We believe in freedom, and we'll fight for what's right, But we won't let anger lead us down a path of endless night. So let's come together, in peace and harmony, In our small town, love's the remedy.

(Chorus) Yeah, angry souls, listen close and clear, You won't find a battleground in our small town here. We stand tough, no fear to be found, In the heart of America, we're standin' our ground.

(Outro) In this small town, love abounds, Angry protests, don't you dare come around.

 

I still haven't heard this crappy song yet, so no idea if ChatGPT did it better.

looks like aggy got themselves some new intro music. 

[hayden_horn 11362]

16 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

 

hitby wasn't there that night - it was me, P01D, and 2 other guys. Can't remember their handles. Maybe one of them was Wix's husband? Dunno - those years a are all a blur. 

he showed up, i swear. he was late, but i distinctly remember thinking "oh shit, these two dudes are sharing the same space" but i remember it being remarkably chill.

to bring this back to the thread topic: jason aldean is everything that is wrong with country music today.

[Bozo_Casanova 26460]

47 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

wait, paul passed away?

hitbyatrain.

i remember meeting them both i want to say at shoal creek saloon. think i met northloop there once. maybe it was the same time

hell, i met you at doc's i want to say. with a bunch of other internet dudes. totally normal stuff.

Yep - Doc's on South Congress. @hitbyatrain and Paul were there, too. It was the first time they shared space.  

Sadly, yes - Paul died this spring. He was 58.  Jason Aldean's whereabouts at the time of his passing are unknown at this time. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Bozo_Casanova

[hayden_horn 11362]

4 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Yep - Doc's on South Congress. @hitbyatrain and Paul were there, too. It was the first time they shared space.  

Sadly, yes - Paul died this spring. He was 58.  Jason Aldean's whereabouts at the time of his passing are unknown at this time. 

maybe i'm conflating memories, then. that would be very possible. 

jason aldean's whereabouts might have been unknown, but what was known what that he still sucked.

[hayden_horn 11362]

also, son of a bitch about paul.

the internet was never really for him or good for his soul. 

i hope he found some happiness somewhere in new mexico, sharpening up those mower blades in his garage. for some reason, that's the story that sticks out to me. asking for advice on picking up chicks, then inviting one over while he was sharpening his lawnmower blades.

poor soul.

[chainsaw 9868]

51 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

 I'll let you take a guess what happens at the "most replayed" moment.

He fixes the cable?

[freyguy 4272]

3 hours ago, closetohumping said:

What?   Those were life experiences not mere references

The little pink houses reference was tongue-in-cheek.  In reality not everything is all roses in a small town.  He's given a number of interviews reiterating the true meaning behind that song.

[chainsaw 9868]

Basically any town under 1k pop and over 20 miles from any population center is going to be overrun with opioid and meth addicts.

[Bozo_Casanova 26460]

17 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

also, son of a bitch about paul.

the internet was never really for him or good for his soul. 

i hope he found some happiness somewhere in new mexico, sharpening up those mower blades in his garage. for some reason, that's the story that sticks out to me. asking for advice on picking up chicks, then inviting one over while he was sharpening his lawnmower blades.

poor soul.

I hope so, but after I read that it was a "Cardiac event" I couldn't get over the idea the sort of died of a broken heart, but maybe not. While he was in Taos he apparently ran for city council

[Brisketexan 105139]

4 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

Basically any town under 1k pop and over 20 miles from any population center is going to be overrun with opioid and meth addicts.

Bingo.  I related the story here about how I had a hearing in a small county in central Texas (and this was a good while ago, like 15 years ago).  The docket of cases before me was almost entirely small criminal matters.  Including a teenage girl, who was there with her attorney and her dad -- a classic Texas working man, cowboy hat and boots, respectful of the judge, and weary looking.  She was a pretty young thing, looked like a high school cheerleader type.  When the judge calls her case and she comes forward, his first words were "well Lisa Jean [or whatever her name was], this is your third arrest for meth...."  My jaw dropped.  At the end of the day, I went back up to talk to the judge about it, and to ask what was really going on.  He sighed, and explained how much of his docket those cases occupied.  He explained that the county has an obligation to provide medical and dental care to inmates.  Because of the massive influx of meth cases, they'd used up their annual dental budget before the first quarter of the year was over.

Again, the idyllic, "we all love each other, and we don't have crime like them urban city folk do" small town story is a flat-out lie.  But, people love to tell themselves comforting lies, it's human nature.

[Sawbonz 27561]

13 minutes ago, freyguy said:

The little pink houses reference was tongue-in-cheek.  In reality not everything is all roses in a small town.  He's given a number of interviews reiterating the true meaning behind that song.

Small Town was nostalgic 

Pink Houses was sardonic

[Smax 3800]

a bunch of "celebs" I've never heard of arguing about a shitty song, murica!

[chainsaw 9868]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Bingo.  I related the story here about how I had a hearing in a small county in central Texas (and this was a good while ago, like 15 years ago).  The docket of cases before me was almost entirely small criminal matters.  Including a teenage girl, who was there with her attorney and her dad -- a classic Texas working man, cowboy hat and boots, respectful of the judge, and weary looking.  She was a pretty young thing, looked like a high school cheerleader type.  When the judge calls her case and she comes forward, his first words were "well Lisa Jean [or whatever her name was], this is your third arrest for meth...."  My jaw dropped.  At the end of the day, I went back up to talk to the judge about it, and to ask what was really going on.  He sighed, and explained how much of his docket those cases occupied.  He explained that the county has an obligation to provide medical and dental care to inmates.  Because of the massive influx of meth cases, they'd used up their annual dental budget before the first quarter of the year was over.

Again, the idyllic, "we all love each other, and we don't have crime like them urban city folk do" small town story is a flat-out lie.  But, people love to tell themselves comforting lies, it's human nature.

Strong parallels with my sporadically bumped DQ is Slowly Dying thread.

[Royalfan5 2354]

30 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Bingo.  I related the story here about how I had a hearing in a small county in central Texas (and this was a good while ago, like 15 years ago).  The docket of cases before me was almost entirely small criminal matters.  Including a teenage girl, who was there with her attorney and her dad -- a classic Texas working man, cowboy hat and boots, respectful of the judge, and weary looking.  She was a pretty young thing, looked like a high school cheerleader type.  When the judge calls her case and she comes forward, his first words were "well Lisa Jean [or whatever her name was], this is your third arrest for meth...."  My jaw dropped.  At the end of the day, I went back up to talk to the judge about it, and to ask what was really going on.  He sighed, and explained how much of his docket those cases occupied.  He explained that the county has an obligation to provide medical and dental care to inmates.  Because of the massive influx of meth cases, they'd used up their annual dental budget before the first quarter of the year was over.

Again, the idyllic, "we all love each other, and we don't have crime like them urban city folk do" small town story is a flat-out lie.  But, people love to tell themselves comforting lies, it's human nature.

One of my college friends was a public defender in Hutchinson Kansas. Besides the midsized town stuff he got farmed out to western Kansas to take on bigger drug, sex, murder Kansas and he had some real doozies of stories. Never could set the office record for a sentence since one of the other defenders was BTK's lawyer.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

50 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

Basically any town under 1k pop and over 20 miles from any population center is going to be overrun with opioid and meth addicts.

To say they're overrun with opioid and meth addicts is a significant exaggeration, but your point about bad behavior being everywhere is accurate.

I did a few years as a DA in a rural Iowa county who's county seat is over an hour from any town with 10K people in it.  It's pretty god damn safe and sleepy, but there was also a definite underbelly that consisted of around 150-200 people (out of the roughly 9,500 in the county) that were heavy meth heads and all the shenanigans that come with that - theft, prostitution, sexual assault, etc.

[Deej 76791]

51 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Again, the idyllic, "we all love each other, and we don't have crime like them urban city folk do" small town story is a flat-out lie

Replace "crime" with "as many minorities" and you'll get what they're saying. 

[Guadaloopy 10970]

6 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

To say they're overrun with opioid and meth addicts is a significant exaggeration, but your point about bad behavior being everywhere is accurate.

I did a few years as a DA in a rural Iowa county who's county seat is over an hour from any town with 10K people in it.  It's pretty god damn safe and sleepy, but there was also a definite underbelly that consisted of around 150-200 people (out of the roughly 9,500 in the county) that were heavy meth heads and all the shenanigans that come with that - theft, prostitution, sexual assault, etc.

I just had the most vivid mental picture of Dewey Crowe, Dickie Bennett and Ellen May.

[Celery Man 20949]

54 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Bingo.  I related the story here about how I had a hearing in a small county in central Texas (and this was a good while ago, like 15 years ago).  The docket of cases before me was almost entirely small criminal matters.  Including a teenage girl, who was there with her attorney and her dad -- a classic Texas working man, cowboy hat and boots, respectful of the judge, and weary looking.  She was a pretty young thing, looked like a high school cheerleader type.  When the judge calls her case and she comes forward, his first words were "well Lisa Jean [or whatever her name was], this is your third arrest for meth...."  My jaw dropped.  At the end of the day, I went back up to talk to the judge about it, and to ask what was really going on.  He sighed, and explained how much of his docket those cases occupied.  He explained that the county has an obligation to provide medical and dental care to inmates.  Because of the massive influx of meth cases, they'd used up their annual dental budget before the first quarter of the year was over.

Again, the idyllic, "we all love each other, and we don't have crime like them urban city folk do" small town story is a flat-out lie.  But, people love to tell themselves comforting lies, it's human nature.

Can she live on faith? Live on hope? High on Jesus or hooked on dope.

[Homercles 10205]

19 hours ago, Celery Man said:

Stopped at the Exxon in Crewe, VA (pop. 3fiddy) for caffeine and a piss and snapped this picture of the local culture

[crash_davis 23113]

10 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

To say they're overrun with opioid and meth addicts is a significant exaggeration, but your point about bad behavior being everywhere is accurate.

I did a few years as a DA in a rural Iowa county who's county seat is over an hour from any town with 10K people in it.  It's pretty god damn safe and sleepy, but there was also a definite underbelly that consisted of around 150-200 people (out of the roughly 9,500 in the county) that were heavy meth heads and all the shenanigans that come with that - theft, prostitution, sexual assault, etc.

So Jason Aldean didn't round up the posse and put an end to the theft, prostitution, and sexual assaults? 

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

7 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

So Jason Aldean didn't round up the posse and put an end to the theft, prostitution, and sexual assaults? 

This may shock you, but he did not.

[chainsaw 9868]

27 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

To say they're overrun with opioid and meth addicts is a significant exaggeration, but your point about bad behavior being everywhere is accurate.

I did a few years as a DA in a rural Iowa county who's county seat is over an hour from any town with 10K people in it.  It's pretty god damn safe and sleepy, but there was also a definite underbelly that consisted of around 150-200 people (out of the roughly 9,500 in the county) that were heavy meth heads and all the shenanigans that come with that - theft, prostitution, sexual assault, etc.

How long ago was that? Rural IA was quite nice before Trump. Good people, good families, not too much crazy. I can't imagine they were spared by the opioid crisis though. Like the homeless in Austin who are not large in number, they are quite disruptive and the areas in which they disrupt everyone else have grown in size and in number, so too are the addicts in small towns. The difference is the small towns are far less equipped to cover up the blight and, of course, there's not much else going on to counterbalance the negative impact on quality of life caused by the addicts.

[kevwun 15788]

20 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

So Jason Aldean didn't round up the posse and put an end to the theft, prostitution, and sexual assaults? 

He was going to, but he passed out from the heat at the hootenanny they had to celebrate the posse's departure the day before it was supposed to leave.

Edited July 21, 2023 by kevwun

[Homercles 10205]

1 hour ago, chainsaw said:

Basically any town under 1k pop and over 20 miles from any population center is going to be overrun with opioid and meth addicts.

If our drive from Austin to Durango was any indication, the only nice building in the whole one-stoplight was the…federal…post office.  

“Got damn bums living off that thur gobment handouts up there in Portland, stealing from us werkin folk”

[Goredho 17406]

2 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

wait, paul passed away?

hitbyatrain.

i remember meeting them both i want to say at shoal creek saloon. think i met northloop there once. maybe it was the same time

hell, i met you at doc's i want to say. with a bunch of other internet dudes. totally normal stuff.

[chainsaw 9868]

3 minutes ago, Homercles said:

If our drive from Austin to Durango was any indication, the only nice building in the whole one-stoplight was the…federal…post office.  

“Got damn bums living off that thur gobment handouts up there in Portland, stealing from us werkin folk”

This is a story I hear about almost everywhere in NM other than Santa Fe, and I've heard variations on this story about parts of Texas spanning from Dumas to Robstown and other rural states like Wyoming and Vermont.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

11 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

How long ago was that? Rural IA was quite nice before Trump. Good people, good families, not too much crazy. I can't imagine they were spared by the opioid crisis though. Like the homeless in Austin who are not large in number, they are quite disruptive and the areas in which they disrupt everyone else have grown in size and in number, so too are the addicts in small towns. The difference is the small towns are far less equipped to cover up the blight and, of course, there's not much else going on to counterbalance the negative impact on quality of life caused by the addicts.

2012-2014.  I still live in the same town.  It's actually grown since the 2010 census and is a really nice place to live, if you're fine with a lack of big city amenities.  This spring I sold the house I bought in 2012 for 75% more than I paid for it, with only minor upgrades in that time.  The rural areas in the northern half of Iowa, most of Wisconsin, most of Minnesota, and the eastern part of the Dakotas and Nebraska are pretty well off - mostly due to how strong the ag economy is.  Literally almost every rural farm house is occupied by a millionaire, as farmland runs well north of $12K/acre and when most of those folks own a couple hundred acres, well, do the math.

The opioid crisis is really quite minor here.  There are addicts, but they really keep to themselves and don't disrupt the day to day all that much.  Property crime is low, and random assaults are almost unheard of.

A good friend of mine lived in Bloomington, Indiana from 2012-2018.  I visited him out there 3-4 times.  The last time we were there, there were homeless heroin addicts wandering around the city parks and hassling people in Kroger parking lots.  I've never seen anything like that within 4 hours of where I live.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Al_4_ISU

[chainsaw 9868]

Just now, Al_4_ISU said:

2012-2014.  I still live in the same town.  It's actually grown since the 2010 census and is a really nice place to live, if you're fine with a lack of big city amenities.  This spring I sold the house I bought in 2012 for 75% more than I paid for it, with only minor upgrades in that time.  The rural areas in the northern half of Iowa, most of Wisconsin, most of Minnesota, and the eastern part of the Dakotas and Nebraska are pretty well off - mostly due to how strong the ag economy is.  Literally almost every rural farm house is occupied by a millionaire, as farmland runs well north of $12K/acre and when most of those folks own a couple hundred acres, well, do the math.

The opioid crisis is really quite minor here.  There are addicts, but they really keep to themselves and don't disrupt the day to day all that much.  Property crime is low, and random assaults are almost unheard of.

A good friend of mine lived in Bloomington, Indiana from 2012-2018.  I visited him out there 3-4 times.  The last time we were there, there homeless heroin addicts wandering around the city parks and hassling people in Kroger parking lots.  I've never seen anything like that within 4 hours of where I live.

That's good to hear. If you have a strong tax base, generally the public services are going to be good, and when median incomes exceed the cost of living that's also a great indicator. Iowa is pretty nice, and very overlooked. I'll miss having a conference stop there.

[Homercles 10205]

8 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

This is a story I hear about almost everywhere in NM other than Santa Fe, and I've heard variations on this story about parts of Texas spanning from Dumas to Robstown and other rural states like Wyoming and Vermont.

There were at least four I can remember…the state highway slowed to 35mph, a bunch of abandoned buildings with trees growing through them, a leaning barn, and then a gleaming post office right before speed limit went back to 65.  

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1291]

22 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

How long ago was that? Rural IA was quite nice before Trump. Good people, good families, not too much crazy. I can't imagine they were spared by the opioid crisis though. Like the homeless in Austin who are not large in number, they are quite disruptive and the areas in which they disrupt everyone else have grown in size and in number, so too are the addicts in small towns. The difference is the small towns are far less equipped to cover up the blight and, of course, there's not much else going on to counterbalance the negative impact on quality of life caused by the addicts.

Just about every rural community has a serious brain drain problem created by a complete lack of opportunity for any young person with a college education. Kids who get a degree never come back, and the kids who stay decide they like meth. Some small communities are able to bring in ag industry and keep property values afloat, which is actually great for the population that isn't cut out for college and also attracts immigrants. It's still an uphill battle for them, though.

Edited July 21, 2023 by The Hot Dog Buffet

[NorthLoop 14203]

20 minutes ago, Homercles said:

If our drive from Austin to Durango was any indication, the only nice building in the whole one-stoplight was the…federal…post office.  

 

 

We drove SA to Durango last month. Other than Roswell and ABQ, it was a barren wasteland. So many towns where we would ask eachother, "what do people do for a living in this town? Everything is boarded up" ... the answer was always "meth". 

[Storm the Field 5294]

3 hours ago, Parliament said:

Here's an idea.  Jason Aldean, Kid Rock and Ted Nugent should tour together.  

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1291]

2 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Poserpalooza

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

4 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

Just about every rural community has a serious brain drain problem created by a complete lack of opportunity for any young person with a college education. Kids who get a degree never come back, and the kids who stay decide they like meth. Some small communities are able to bring in ag industry and keep property values afloat, which is actually great for the population that isn't cut out for college and also attracts immigrants. It's still an uphill battle for them, though.

The brain drain has been issue for Iowa (and other rural places) my whole life, and when I was 18 I thought my hometown/area would be a bombed out crater within 5 years.

Here it is 20 years later, and it's honestly got more going for it than when I was a kid.

A lot of it is that we went through that big population loss in the 80's, when you had big families on small farms, and it wasn't possible to sustain that level of population in that economy.  In essence, we kind of found our carrying capacity.  And there have been a fair amount of college educated people who realize you can live here dirt cheap, make a lot of money in comparison to the COL, and the recreation opportunities are better than their reputation.  If you have a craving for the big city stuff, pretty much anywhere in the state is within 4 hours of a pro sports town (Minneapolis, Chicago, or KC).  Easy weekend trips.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

20 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

That's good to hear. If you have a strong tax base, generally the public services are going to be good, and when median incomes exceed the cost of living that's also a great indicator. Iowa is pretty nice, and very overlooked. I'll miss having a conference stop there.

Exactly, and that's the case across what I would call the western corn belt (Iowa, Minnesota, eastern Dakotas/Nebraska, northern and central Illinois) as a result of that consistently strong ag economy.

[Parliament 14260]

Non-Appalacian Ohio is the same.  Maybe more hog smell.  SE OH though?  Yeah.  Bad.

The way you guys describe rural Texas i wonder if maybe you guys think your State sucks.

[Guadaloopy 10970]

1 minute ago, Parliament said:

The way you guys describe rural Texas i wonder if maybe you guys think your State sucks.

 

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

3 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Non-Appalacian Ohio is the same.  Maybe more hog smell.  SE OH though?  Yeah.  Bad.

The way you guys describe rural Texas i wonder if maybe you guys think your State sucks.

I highly doubt that.  We call that the smell of money.

[Bozo_Casanova 26460]

13 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

The brain drain has been issue for Iowa (and other rural places) my whole life, and when I was 18 I thought my hometown/area would be a bombed out crater within 5 years.

Here it is 20 years later, and it's honestly got more going for it than when I was a kid.

A lot of it is that we went through that big population loss in the 80's, when you had big families on small farms, and it wasn't possible to sustain that level of population in that economy.  In essence, we kind of found our carrying capacity.  And there have been a fair amount of college educated people who realize you can live here dirt cheap, make a lot of money in comparison to the COL, and the recreation opportunities are better than their reputation.  If you have a craving for the big city stuff, pretty much anywhere in the state is within 4 hours of a pro sports town (Minneapolis, Chicago, or KC).  Easy weekend trips.

I really like DesMoines and Ames, but what's the best/most interesting small city, say, anything under 20K?