"Frankly, it's Wichita Falls"

[Braff Zacklin 13616]

12 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

This would never happen in Pampa.

Nothing ever happens in Pampa.

[randomhorn 1752]

1 hour ago, Texzilla588 said:

Unfortunately this is happening across the country as small towns and larger ones lose population.

I’m not seeing the unfortunate part. 

[Trey3216 15346]

2 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

Man after spending summers on the family watermelon farm in Munday and the lumber yard in Rhineland Wichita Falls felt like New York. Those places suck ass

 still never understood how in 1931 the family crossed from Mexico and said yea let’s just stop here

My Grandmother was born in Munday and a bunch of her family settled in Haskell, Rule and Rochester.  

[Sawbonz 27566]

5 hours ago, RPM said:

Growing up there were people that went to FW to party and those that went to WF to party. Never understood the latter

 

[ABSR 5315]

4 hours ago, Parliament said:

Wouldn't that be 80% of this board?

80%?   You are very kind. 

[Brisketexan 105153]

47 minutes ago, Texzilla588 said:

How would you like to commute daily from Lawton to Wichita Falls, deal with shithead methhead parolees all day, then drive back to Lawton, to hear your wife complaining about the bad teeth on the rez and doing nothing but extractions, and the artillery booming at the fort? He often thought about just driving off the bridge into the red river. And do it again the next day and the next …,

Wife musta been hotter than Salma Hayek and Linda Carter combined.

[Braff Zacklin 13616]

10 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Wife musta been hotter than Salma Hayek and Linda Carter combined.

I expected better from you, Brisket.

[Brisketexan 105153]

I expected better from you, Brisket.

y, i, she’s hot however you spell it.

[safe sex 11735]

Wichita Falls truly died the day the Bar-L closed up for good

[Pancho 44847]

Wichita Falls is the Laredo of North Texas

And fuck the cops in Holliday and Henrietta. 

[huge 3793]

2 hours ago, royiv said:

You sure about that? Or just the legal profession? I’ve spent 25 years in the healthcare industry and Houston has been the easiest market for me to recruit to in my career.

I am speaking specifically about the DA's office hiring new grads (under Ogg).

[royiv 9323]

2 minutes ago, huge said:

I am speaking specifically about the DA's office hiring new grads (under Ogg).

Ah, got it. Hopefully that will improve with a new boss next year.

[huge 3793]

1 minute ago, royiv said:

Ah, got it. Hopefully that will improve with a new boss next year.

He seems confident that it will immediately improve.

[Helobious 9454]

57 minutes ago, Pancho said:

Wichita Falls is the Laredo of North Texas

And fuck the cops in Holliday and Henrietta. 

Sounds like you haven’t been to Laredo in a long time. Northeast side has all the nice neighborhoods and chain restaurants of any typical US suburb, coupled with really really good Mexican food. It’s a cool little city.

[Redneck Mutha 7990]

3 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

Man after spending summers on the family watermelon farm in Munday and the lumber yard in Rhineland Wichita Falls felt like New York. Those places suck ass

 still never understood how in 1931 the family crossed from Mexico and said yea let’s just stop here

Got some of that "WTF, why did you move there?" in my ancestry.  Two grandparents born/lived/died in Munday, the other two born/lived/died in Rhineland. 

Growing up, Dad worked on the watermelon and potato farms in the area.  Would have been the mid-60s as he was born in '48 (happy 76th today, Dad.  RIP). Mom's crew was cousins of the Zeissels, unfortunately no ownership in their fertilizer business. But Mom and dem all got out, educated, and did pretty good for themselves.  

Mom and Dad married at St Joseph's in Rhineland, I was baptized there just a few months later, heh.  Then on to bigger and better things in The Big WF, where I spent the next 20ish years. Fowler, McNiel, Rider, 2 years at MSU, and finally enough balls to gtfo and down to The Forty.

We may not know each other, but we definitely had relatives who knew each other. 

[txhorns 2409]

As a current resident of Wichita Falls I must say that all of you are dumbasses.  But you're right about Wichita Falls.

[General Specific 3262]

That's like choosing between between being constipated or having exploding diarrhea. 

Constipated diarrhea is a heck of a band name.

[txhorns 2409]

3 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

John is a HS classmate of mine.  Only recently did I see he was the DA there.  Seems like he has been doing a lot of good up there, but without the Air Force base that place might die.  

Midwestern is mostly full of non-trads from the surrounding communities.  

I'm always shocked that there is another Burk grad on here besides my brother.

[General Specific 3262]

It kept getting worse. Or the mule died. Maybe both.

[Chad Fuck 17684]

2 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

My Grandmother was born in Munday and a bunch of her family settled in Haskell, Rule and Rochester.  

My Dad's from out there.  Mattson.  Doesn't exist as a community any longer.  My grandmother settled in Weinert after Mattson dried up.  She's buried at Haskell.  

[Chad Fuck 17684]

2 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

 

This is my favorite country disco song.  Our band plays it every time. 

[TwiceHorn 31489]

Man, my aunt and uncle lived all around there (wildcatter), Vernon, Electra, then they hit it pretty big and settled in WF, where my cousin grew up.

I used to go visit them every summer and my aunt after she was widowed.  This was before the extended oil bust of the 80s wreaked its havoc.

Granted, it was the view of a 7th grader, at the latest, but I used to enjoy Wichita Falls and have fond memories of it.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

4 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

still never understood how in 1931 the family crossed from Mexico and said yea let’s just stop here

Wagon must have lost a wheel. Or they lacked ambition one

[Sawbonz 27566]

31 minutes ago, Redneck Mutha said:

Got some of that "WTF, why did you move there?" in my ancestry.  Two grandparents born/lived/died in Munday, the other two born/lived/died in Rhineland. 

Growing up, Dad worked on the watermelon and potato farms in the area.  Would have been the mid-60s as he was born in '48 (happy 76th today, Dad.  RIP). Mom's crew was cousins of the Zeissels, unfortunately no ownership in their fertilizer business. But Mom and dem all got out, educated, and did pretty good for themselves.  

Mom and Dad married at St Joseph's in Rhineland, I was baptized there just a few months later, heh.  Then on to bigger and better things in The Big WF, where I spent the next 20ish years. Fowler, McNiel, Rider, 2 years at MSU, and finally enough balls to gtfo and down to The Forty.

We may not know each other, but we definitely had relatives who knew each other. 

Username and whatnot 

[RPM 26322]

5 hours ago, crash_davis said:

That's like choosing between being constipated or having exploding diarrhea. 

Burkburnett

Edited August 1 by RPM

[RPM 26322]

11 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

Mom's crew was cousins of the Zeissels,

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

47 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

My Dad's from out there.  Mattson.  Doesn't exist as a community any longer.  My grandmother settled in Weinert after Mattson dried up.  She's buried at Haskell.  

I've goose hunted in Weinert.  Great time.  

[Bozo_Casanova 26473]

7 hours ago, RPM said:

Well...

Boy, I bet I could live like a king in Wichita Falls.

[safe sex 11735]

"like" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there

[RPM 26322]

8 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Boy, I bet I could live like a king in Wichita Falls.

[Trey3216 15346]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

My Dad's from out there.  Mattson.  Doesn't exist as a community any longer.  My grandmother settled in Weinert after Mattson dried up.  She's buried at Haskell.  

I still go out to Rule every year for dove season.  Big extended family party weekend for us.   Always good times.   

[RDCanecutter 26446]

6 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Better out than in

That's the damn truth.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

[Bozo_Casanova 26473]

7 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

It’s still open to me, dammit

[RDCanecutter 26446]

2 hours ago, Helobious said:

Sounds like you haven’t been to Laredo in a long time. Northeast side has all the nice neighborhoods and chain restaurants of any typical US suburb, coupled with really really good Mexican food. It’s a cool little city.

I am more of a downtown Laredo type guy. Stay in that old office-building hotel near the bus station, and stroll over to On The Rocks Tavern to hear some punk bands. The downtown stores are bustling, unlike most of Texas US.

[Bozo_Casanova 26473]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

[RDCanecutter 26446]

1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Boy, I bet I could live like a king in Wichita Falls.

Reminds me of a friend who got an accountant job in Haleyville, up in Winston County aka The Free State of Winston as I was first told by a girl with North Alabama Box Face. My friend said if you wore a tie (which he did,) you got treated like the President of France. Anything was possible. Also it took about 11 cents a week to live well there.

But then he had a mental breakdown, semi-recovered, then got destroyed by alcohol and died.

[BamaATL 16593]

25 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Reminds me of a friend who got an accountant job in Haleyville, up in Winston County aka The Free State of Winston as I was first told by a girl with North Alabama Box Face. My friend said if you wore a tie (which he did,) you got treated like the President of France. Anything was possible. Also it took about 11 cents a week to live well there.

But then he had a mental breakdown, semi-recovered, then got destroyed by alcohol and died.

The last sentence probably should be Haleyville's Wikipedia page, full stop.  

[Texzilla588 769]

Wichita Falls is the Laredo of North Texas
And fuck the cops in Holliday and Henrietta. 

Fuck the ticket mill known as Claude TX between Amarillo and WF. Defines shithole. Tickets are the only rev source. They line em up on 287. Their speed guns go out 5 digits so if you’re driving 35.00017 you’ll get a bigass ticket. All assholes. The whole town. Fuck you Claude.

[Texzilla588 769]

Got some of that "WTF, why did you move there?" in my ancestry.  Two grandparents born/lived/died in Munday, the other two born/lived/died in Rhineland. 
Growing up, Dad worked on the watermelon and potato farms in the area.  Would have been the mid-60s as he was born in '48 (happy 76th today, Dad.  RIP). Mom's crew was cousins of the Zeissels, unfortunately no ownership in their fertilizer business. But Mom and dem all got out, educated, and did pretty good for themselves.  
Mom and Dad married at St Joseph's in Rhineland, I was baptized there just a few months later, heh.  Then on to bigger and better things in The Big WF, where I spent the next 20ish years. Fowler, McNiel, Rider, 2 years at MSU, and finally enough balls to gtfo and down to The Forty.
We may not know each other, but we definitely had relatives who knew each other. 

My dad and his siblings were born in Munday, they moved to Handley in 34 (now East FTW.). My grandfather’s family farmed out there. I guess the well water out there had tons of calcium in it and hence their teeth were like steel.

[RPM 26322]

19 minutes ago, Texzilla588 said:

Fuck the ticket mill known as Claude TX between Amarillo and WF.

Estelline says "Hold my beer. Hey, that's an open container!"

[General Specific 3262]

Any town on 287….

[Mittens 8284]

Premise of OP is spot on.  I work in medical malpractice insurance and have a client in WF that is in a real bind.  They need to add a provider to their roster, and there is only 1 available in the whole region (w/ that specialty), but he's almost uninsurable.  They're going to end up paying through the nose for a guy who will work maybe 25 days a year for them.  100 miles from anywhere anyone really wants to live, especially anyone w/ real earning power.

[BamaATL 16593]

30 minutes ago, Mittens said:

Premise of OP is spot on.  I work in medical malpractice insurance and have a client in WF that is in a real bind.  They need to add a provider to their roster, and there is only 1 available in the whole region (w/ that specialty), but he's almost uninsurable.  They're going to end up paying through the nose for a guy who will work maybe 25 days a year for them.  100 miles from anywhere anyone really wants to live, especially anyone w/ real earning power.

It's easy to poke fun of a place that is going thru a bad time, but the truth is this is a big problem, and it appears it's only going to get worse for places like WF.  As we continue to urbanize, places like this just going to keep getting left behind.  Rural America is largely devoid of professional services, and now mid size America is getting left in the dust.  

[Frank Drebin 5643]

On 8/1/2024 at 11:01 AM, Zepol87 said:

Man after spending summers on the family watermelon farm in Munday and the lumber yard in Rhineland Wichita Falls felt like New York. Those places suck ass

 still never understood how in 1931 the family crossed from Mexico and said yea let’s just stop here

Some damn good hunting around Munday/Weinert/Rule.  Some of the best waterfowl hunting I've ever done.  Good for dove and Sandhill Crane also.  And surprisingly good deer country.  

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

Many of the larger factories around WF closed and left a lot of people out of work.  It's slowly dying and I got out as soon as I could.  

[royiv 9323]

4 hours ago, BamaATL said:

It's easy to poke fun of a place that is going thru a bad time, but the truth is this is a big problem, and it appears it's only going to get worse for places like WF.  As we continue to urbanize, places like this just going to keep getting left behind.  Rural America is largely devoid of professional services, and now mid size America is getting left in the dust.  

Which will sow further discord between rural and urban America. We need to be making investments in rural infrastructure (digital, education, healthcare, etc) to make sure those folks have access to services and ability to earn a living in professional services not just as a corrections officer at the local for profit prison or as a cashier at the Wal-Mart.

[Brisketexan 105153]

2 minutes ago, royiv said:

Which will sow further discord between rural and urban America. We need to be making investments in rural infrastructure (digital, education, healthcare, etc) to make sure those folks have access to services and ability to earn a living in professional services not just as a corrections officer at the local for profit prison or as a cashier at the Wal-Mart.

I don't disagree....but....to what end?  "Healthcare?"  When our model is for-profit, it's next to impossible to run a for-profit healthcare provider in a community that is too small and too poor to support it.  Education?  We've decided that schools are bullshit, and especially rural schools.  While those remain the anchor and often largest employer in rural areas, we're doing everything we can to yank the rug out from under those.  And, it's a death spiral - as people move away, the schools become more fragmented and fragile and undersupported....which causes more people to bail.  Digital work?  Sure, some folks with good internet can do a few remote jobs....but if they can live anywhere....why would they choose to stay in places that don't offer much?

Small towns had their heyday when small to medium agricultural operations were at their peak.  Now that you need a giant operation to provide a decent living, and farm labor has largely been automated, there's no reason for Small Farm Town, USA to have 5,000 people.  1200 is more than enough.  Except 1200 isn't enough to support a sustainable town.

There's no easy magic sauce for helping or fixing small-town America.  That sucks, and is a problem for a shitload of our fellow Americans, and thus is a problem for all of us.  

[Beau Vine 54246]

4 minutes ago, royiv said:

Which will sow further discord between rural and urban America. We need to be making investments in rural infrastructure (digital, education, healthcare, etc) to make sure those folks have access to services and ability to earn a living in professional services not just as a corrections officer at the local for profit prison or as a cashier at the Wal-Mart.

Rural America doesn't vote for the political party that prioritizes those things.

[Brisketexan 105153]

Just now, Beau Vine said:

Rural America doesn't vote for the political party that prioritizes those things.

I mean, without going CR....yes, it's staggering how much of rural America's pain is self-inflicted.  BUT...a lot (maybe most) of that pain isn't subject to attribution to a particular "team" or another.  Agriculture was never going to stick with the "small family farm" model.  It isn't economically sustainable.  And that factor alone is a brutal blow to rural America.  The rise of Wal-Mart and the death of Main Street businesses?  That ain't a one-party thing, it's been decades in the making.  Yes, there are some specifics that are partisan (the suicide of continuing support for a group that wants to destroy public education, for example), but most of it is just a tide that's been coming and is going to keep coming.