The High Price of small town living

I'll admit economics was never my strong suit. I took it 34 years ago learning about GNP and really not listening in class. I was too hung up on one guy in that classroom.

However, after living out here in my small town, I realize there is a price to pay. For instance the price of gas in Wichita (at this writing) was $3.69 a gallon. In my small town the lowest for a gallon was $3.89 and the highest is set at $3.99. There is an even smaller town east of here and their gas prices were lower than ours go figure. We have no pharmacy in this town, we have one grocery store, several eating establishments and a swimming pool, otherwise there is nothing for the kids to do except play sports.

I know that some advocate that we should shop local but it's tough. Since there is no pharmacy do we weigh the costs of driving 8 miles south as opposed to driving to Wichita and picking up a $4.00 prescription? I opt to go to Wichita. My doctors are in Wichita and so is my pharmacy. When you want a haircut (this applies to an elderly person) they travel 8 miles south as well. Me, I'm always going to Hutch. The price of one half gallon of milk (whole milk) is about $2.19, whereas if you travel 35 miles east the cost is $1.19 a gallon. Needless to say I do most of my grocery shopping in the larger towns.

I think the high price of living in a small town really impacts the elderly who are somewhat homebound. They have to drive out of town (approximately 8 miles) to get some kind of service. If you live in a larger town there is transportation available and you are more likely to get a service cheaper.

Living in the small town, I usually stock up on a lot of food. The selection is so much better in the large town as compared to the small town.

Swimming pool prices are a lot less in Wichita than in the small town. To go swimming here it is like $3.00. In Wichita it is under $2.00. Wichita has movie theaters and recreational facilities that the small towns cannot compete with.

Yet, looking at the crime Wichita beats the small town hands down. There is a price that you pay for feeling/being safe in the small town.

It is too bad that the small towns are dying off. If perhaps more businesses would move into town then more people would have a job. Maybe even the price of gas would go "down" as compared with Wichita prices.

Sometimes there is talk of moving the schools out of the small towns and consolidating somewhere out in the country. If they would do that, then this town and others would become smaller and eventually die. I hope that those rumors or actions will end soon. Hopefully, this small town will grow with more businesses and services and maybe the high costs of living in a small town would go down.

Maybe...