It's sad what's happened to cities and small towns across America. Our politicians, on both sides, have played a huge part in it. The loss of manufacturing jobs decades ago really left them struggling but the pandemic was the death-blow. We used to drive down to Arizona from Minnesota for our winter getaway and some of the towns we drove through between here and there were barely hanging on. There were bright spots though and I loved to see that—little businesses that were trying their best to defy the odds. I sense a real renaissance coming but we have to find our way through a few more dark years before we arrive to that. I think individual communities will have to get to the point where they're fed up and decide it's up to them to turn things around on their own. I saw this happen in areas of the city I grew up in, Columbus OH, and it was an amazing sight. German Village was one huge success story. In the 1950's the entire area was slated for the bulldozers but a handful of people in the community stepped up and started a huge privately funded renovation project. It took decades to finish but now it's the jewel of the city. You can actually feel the cohesiveness and pride when you spend time there. Hope is, indeed, the better inheritance.
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