Comment by duxup
1 day ago
A lot of those small towns struggle with having their hands tied by their given state too. States restricting small towns from raising / gathering funds to provide services / make their town more desirable is pretty common in those areas. Often times policing is one of the few services provided, if only because they gather funds from their activities, and that is its own perverse incentive a times.
It's tough to be a small town anywhere, but in the south it seems far more dire / there's very little that can be done by local cities.
It's unfortunate as with the potential for work from home type situations some of these picturesque small towns might provide a great spot for people to move to, but when you see the parks are a mess, pool closed ... you don't want to move there.
> A lot of those small towns struggle with having their hands tied by their given state too. States restricting small towns from raising / gathering funds to provide services / make their town more desirable is pretty common in those areas.
I hadn't heard about this... do you have a link with more information?
This isn't a great article about it but it does reference the issue:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/01/28/lawmaker-files-b...
As a quick example, Alexandra Pineville metroplex would do a needle exchange but the state said they could not. Louisiana.
The Deep South isn’t as bad as the Great Plains. Go look at population charts for proof. The Deep South is growing while the Great Plains are being depopulated.
I’m not sure that applies to small towns.
Atlanta growing doesn’t mean anything for small towns.
Atlanta is really a blue island in a sea of red. Very developed and progressive compared to its surroundings.