Go Midwest, Young Man, Continued

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24 June 2009 2:36 PM

by Conor Friedersdorf

In a recent post, I talked about Ord, Nebraska as an example of a town in the Midwest trying to attract young professionals. Is that realistic? I pressed Caleb T. Pollard, the man in charge of the project, for answers.

My question:

One of your goals in Ord is to convince young professionals that life can be better in a small town miles from the Interstate than in a big city dense with business and people. Why do you think that is so?

Mr. Pollard's response:

We can look at it one of two ways - the economic data that makes logical sense or the intangibles that make emotional sense. Before I get started, I need to begin with a disclaimer: While I'm trying to convince professionals who see the benefit of living in a rural community to take the leap and move to Ord, some folks will never be able to formulate a raison d'être for their relocation. We don't have the opera, we are limited in our access to the arts, our music scene is lacking, some professions aren't viable in our community, we don't have a mall...you get the picture. My goal is to connect with people who feel trapped in urban centers (like my wife and I did) and offer them a delineated path to simplicity and sanity provided in the rural community.

OK, disclaimer over. Let's start with the economic:

The cost of living in Ord is dramatically lower than most other places in the United States. Your income goes much farther in rural Nebraska for life's necessities as well as discretionary items. It's 7.8 times as expensive to secure housing in New York City. Housing in Ord is also 91% less expensive than housing in the Washington DC metro, and 16% less than in the Omaha, Nebraska metro area. While my wife and I'd income increased $2500/year in moving to Ord, our overall cost of living decreased 30%. That was just from the metro in Nebraska, which can't touch wages on the East or West coast. We can afford to save for retirement and experience global travel because our income isn't tied up in housing and commuting costs.

Our commute times are measured in minutes to the mile - traveling 15 miles takes fifteen minutes. My commute in Ord is 6 minutes round trip if I drive or ride my bike; 20 if I walk. Not only is this an economic boon for us, but it opens all sorts of options we have with the extra time. My wife and I enjoy *mornings* with our two boys. Until moving to Ord, this never, ever happened.

Now, for the emotional benefit:

Community is a idea that is often bandied about, but in Ord you actually know all of your neighbors and you support them, they support you. The self-reliance and independent spirit that exists in the community is rather empowering - if we want something to be done, we do it ourselves. We support each other in professional and personal endeavors, your children truly are raised by the village and the experience is almost like an extended family.

Educational attainment was of huge importance for us as well. We will be sending our children to a public school that consistently beats the Nebraska state average in science, math and English (the Nebraska educational system is one of the best in the nation) and class size hovers at around 15 per teacher. Reminder - we're not paying for this, it's a public school.

Access to the outdoor activity is immediate. wanted for my kids the same experience I had growing up on a farm. Reading Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods, I saw the powerful and long term negative influence structured urban dwelling was having on American childhoods. Nature deficit disorder is real and having deleterious effects on American families. In Ord, our access to the natural world is just out our back door. 6 minutes and we're six miles upriver to hop in the canoe and paddle down to Ord, all the while experiencing the prairie biosphere.

Finally, the open space and the ceiling of sky is what I call my therapy. Whether by bike, car or airplane, the tremendous dome of blue is both uplifting and humbling in the same breathe. To stand in the Nebraska Sandhills and look North, South, East and West and be the only soul for 20 miles is life changing. It's the closest I can get to what the frontier pioneers must have felt when trekking Westward during our Manifest Destiny. For me, that opportunity speaks to my soul.

For us in Nebraska, these attributes have immediate and powerful positive effects. Nebraska is the happiest and most contended state in the nation measured by both economic well-being and emotional well-being. I bristle a bit when I hear the Great Plains labeled as fly-over country, but eventually I smile because I know numerous of individuals in urban communities pay a lot of money to have what I and my neighbors pay nothing for - quiet piece of mind.

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