A Positive View of Rural

I’ve had it with the negative view of rural.

Over and over we get hit with bad news about rural. We are told that small towns are dying, there are no jobs, and that if we had any ambition, we’d move to a big city to look for opportunity.

When you look around at your own small town, you probably notice the bad side of things. The problems you wish you could fix, the people who are opposing everything. People say there’s nothing to do here, and it just isn’t like it used to be.

The result is a really negative view of rural.

Whose job is it to share a positive view of rural? 

I’ve decided it’s my job. Maybe it’s your job, too.

I know that small towns have a future. Whether anyone else remembers it or not, rural people are necessary to the wider world for food, natural resources and conservation. So no matter what, some small towns will survive. Will your town be one of them? That’s at least partly up to you. You don’t have to wait for fate to take its course. You don’t have to wait for someone from outside to come in and save you. You can shape the future of your town.

So that’s what we’re going to talk about in this email, each week. Practical steps you can take to shape the future of your town and news when I offer products and services to help you do it.

The world just might as well get used to us. Because small towns are here to stay.

I will not ever sell or rent your email address to anyone else, because I wouldn’t like that either.

I love you more than my granny’s baked country ham! You sit down and think, “what does Joe need to hear right now?” and then send it to everybody. You’ll never convince me otherwise! Keep doin’ you, Becky! And THANK YOU!
-Joe Crawford, Kentucky