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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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041789
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04178900.056
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1990-09-17
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LETTERS, Page 6Small Town, U.S.A.
You deserve applause for your positive treatment of the
economic conditions in Clay Center, Kans. (BUSINESS, March 27).
Your report of the slow demise of rural communities came as a
pleasant surprise to one who believed himself to be shouting into
the dark about his own town's troubles. The states appear concerned
with urban decay but ignore rural disintegration. Even with modern
telephone service, hospitals and schools, a town will perish
without that intangible element of community spirit. Therein lies
the continued strength of towns such as Clay Center and Windom,
Minn.
Tim Anderson, Executive Director
Windom Area Chamber of Commerce
Windom, Minn.
Having just moved back to central Kansas from Washington, I
find the quality-of-life differences dramatic: crack still refers
to an expansion split in the pavement, a street sweeper means a
vehicle with brushes and not a shotgun, and our high school's
dropout rate is 0.01%, vs. a national average of 25%.
Dane B. Britton
Ellsworth, Kans.
You need search no farther than Kansas' state capital of
Topeka, 94 miles from Clay Center, to find a reason for the demise
of small towns. Kansas has so badly wanted to attract
inventory-laden businesses that this year the state is implementing
a constitutional amendment that takes inventories off the tax rolls
and shifts the property-tax burden to service businesses and
"electronic cottage" industries. Those are the very enterprises
that could save many small towns.
Eldon Thorman
Clay Center, Kans.