I live in a small town (18,000) just 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. In the past, we had steel mills, cork factory, china factory, glass factory, and a thriving main street. These are all gone now; just 1 small steel factory left. Our main street is 2 pharmacies, health clinics (sponsored by Pittsburgh hospitals), bars, and tatoo parlors. Each block has at least 1 or 2 empty storefronts. Unemployment is very high. I want to cry when I drive thru town. We do have a large Christian college which has expanded a lot over the years. This is a good thing in that it brings people to town but when they dine out or want some type of entertainment, they go to neighboring towns. This is a bad thing because parents of the students are buying the fore-closed houses and renting them to 5-6 students; this is cheaper than room & board. As a consequence, all the family neighborhoods are over-run with partying college students and no parking. I love my town and wish it were like it was but that's not going to happen. The closest LQS and Joanne's is about 30 min away but I have 2 quilty friends and we take Road Trips once a month to LQS's all over the tri-state area--lots of fun and variety.
I love hearing about your lives and feel like I "know" you!! Thanks for sharing.