old salt wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:26 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:14 am
old salt wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 10:03 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 8:33 am
Yes, what FFG posted "certainly doesn't sound like a poor rural town"; or a small one for that matter.
Your wiki stats are from 13 and 23 years ago.
Here's an updated look:
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/cedar-hill-mo
1,761 residents; Median income $67,039
88.8% white. 98.8% US citizens.
None of the remaining households spoke another language other than English as a primary language.
Median residential property valuation was $162,300, home ownership 71%
Avg car ownership 2 cars per household.
Not poor. Also not very diverse.
Average; and the poverty rate between 11-12% is about average as well.
But in no way do I doubt your own impressions being true to you.
My econ stats were from the 2000 census, which was the closest i could find to the 1950-60's when I grew up.
The hwy to StL (30 mi) was not widened to 4 lanes until the mid 70's. More xurb commuters "sprawled" out, accordingly.
Making it less rural. It was still less upscale than the sprawl into neighboring Franklin Co & especially affluent W StL Co.
Yup, 23 years ago.
Mine are from most recent census.
Far from a poor town, it's average America economically though more white than average.
But sure, not as affluent as some areas. But it sure ain't bottom 20% poor.
You've been behind the discussion from the start. Not knowing MO or MD.
Then using current data, trying to depict my hometown in the 1950-60's, oblivious to all the changes & the nature of development sense.
When you first asked, I should have just replied -- never mind.
If you & ffg choose to brand me as an affluent, elitist (like you), knock yourself out.
This is a lacrosse forum after all. I owe it all to hard working parents, their extended family members, a resourceful wife & the US Navy.
...but I still remember where I came from & keep in touch with what & who are still there.
obtw -- I've seen similar changes in SoMd since I arrived there in 1977, & am still in touch there too.
sorry, you're mistaken: when I picked up the discussion it was explicitly about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. And then Southern Maryland.
My misunderstanding was your mentioning the poor rural town your family lives in still today...in the context of that conversation. I mistakenly assumed you were describing a town in MD, forgetting prior discussions of you having grown up in MO. I wondered which town in SoMD you were describing, as that was what had been getting discussed.
What was the relevance of your hometown to the discussion of the Eastern Shore or SoMD? I still don't see that connection, really.
But yeah, the town you grew up in was and still remains pretty middle America, average economically (though I bet lower cost of living than major coastal suburbs), and whiter than average. But not the kind or economically desperate place that some of rural America suffers. (partly do racial composition, and the legacy of past discrimination in MO, I suspect).
I make no assumptions about you other than what you post. Sounds like you grew up in a relatively well off family family (relative to immediate neighbors) with corresponding social status...big fish in small pond. Nothing wrong with that, of course...and you managed to get out of town, served, etc. More power to you. From your own statements, you are affluent. Nothing wrong with that of course as well!
But do you or I really understand
on a personal basis what it's like to grow up poor in an economically and socially disadvantaged area, rural or urban? At best, I think we can merely try hard to be empathetic. But we should have the humility to admit that we really don't know.
I wouldn't usually throw around "elitist" as a pejorative, but your own form of "elitism" has been your frequent claim or acceptance of deserving of special respect due to your military service...frankly, I see more of that coming from other bootlickers than you, yourself, but I don't recall you ever rejecting the bootlicking...personally, I respect the dignity of anyone's hard work, but I do also value the earned expertise through education and/or experience...whether that's of a plumber or a scientist. They ain't perfect, they are human beings, but they've earned a level of expertise that I respect...just as I respect yours. and appreciate your contributions in these threads in your fields of earned expertise.
But I don't see the corresponding respect in return.