In Defense Of Small Towns

As a friend of mine said recently: ” this has me feeling a little punchy today”. There’s a list of the “Worst Places to Live In Georgia” on a website called Roadsnacks.net- apparently based out of Durham, North Carolina.

Looking over these guys site, they say two of them are writing these pieces and they list the New York Times, Thrillist, CNN, FOX, and more on their resume. I tried to find these guys on LinkedIn so I could somewhat verify this for myself.

I couldn’t find Nick Johnson’s profile, but I did find Chris Kolmar’s:

 

Ok, so Mr. Kolmar graduated from college in 2009 and has a math background. He previously worked for Movoto, a REAL ESTATE website which I take huge effing issue with for their infamous “Worst Places to Live” lists. These things pop up every so often and I always get rankled with people who can’t seem to click-through and realize these people are trying to sell houses. Smart marketing ploy for their site, but not terribly responsible journalism. But of course, as far as I can tell, at least one of these guys has absolutely zero journalism experience.

I’m immensely bothered by these list articles, and I even have to write some for the website I work for but let me tell y’all: I call each of the places I’m writing about, assuming I don’t have first hand knowledge of the sites. I do my research. I don’t hide behind numbers and algorithms and all that other nonsense. You know why? Because I, and the people I work for, realize something very important.

You can’t put a number on heart. You can’t measure the reach of souls.

An algorithm can’t accurately measure the worth of a smile and a heartfelt hug or handshake. I can first hand speak of my Girl Meets Dublin experience, I went in doubtful about what I would find there. What I found was not just first class dining, a lovely B&B, an amazing farmer’s market and shopping. The biggest thing I was were some of the friendliest people in the state of Georgia. It happened again in Athens, Columbus, and elsewhere.

I love small towns. I’m looking forward to Girl Meets Milledgeville, Augusta, and more on my own site. I look forward to celebrating the small towns and large ones alike all across the South on The Southern Weekend.

And apparently, I’m not the only one. A google search brought up a Dr. Pegoda in Freeport, Texas, who said:

” How would you feel if your hometown or present home came up on a viral list as among the worst places to live? Especially, if you didn’t have the means to relocate or make things ‘better’ (a subjective state)? Imagine the 5 year-old or the 45 year-old sitting in front of the television or computer hearing that their home is among ‘the worst’ places in Texas? 

Where and when people are born is an accident of time and place. 

Don’t confuse geopolitics with real problems. There are certainly a number of places in Houston (a gigantic geopolitical area), for example, far ‘worse’ than Freeport in terms of crime, food deserts, and underfunded, overcrowded schools. “

 

And this- this which I feel is incredibly important to point out:

” Additionally, your list, likely not intentionally but the effect is the same nonetheless, embodies and perpetuates racism. It could cause business to avoid areas where such business could really be needed in terms of jobs and services provided. 

Instead of attacking and demonizing the people who live in Freeport, why not attack the structures–the institutional structures–that keep those racialized as Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc and those without the same access to wealth from having the same opportunities and support via state and federal monies as those racialized as White? The status quo is what needs to be called out. “

 

Dr. Pegoda better points out the problems of these articles than I ever could. But, for me, I would implore Roadsnacks.net and others who put out these “worst of” lists to please consider the impact of what they are doing. A factual article on real problems in a town is certainly warranted, and I won’t dare to argue that only journalists can write them- there are smart people everywhere who can do their research and speak eloquently on topics.

 

But you need to consider the soul, and heart, of the places you write about. And realize that there are some who not only choose to live in them, but cherish their hometowns. You should honor these choices.

 

Love to all y’all,

 

Molly

 

Also… it’s pretty apparently these guys don’t care that they are making people mad. It’s all about the clicks, y’all, for them: