in defense of my home town
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5/18/2007
I was born in Evansville but my family left when I was seven and I did not return until I was an adult. That was more than 30 years ago. I raised and educated a child here who, despite becoming a very successful professional adult denigrates her "home town" in much the manner some of the posts here reflect.
Know what? If everyone on the planet wanted to live in the same place, the earth would tilt off its axis. Diversity of landscape, like diversity of people, is a wonderful and enriching thing. Bashing one place while lauding another is just plain wrong.
I, too have lived in seveal parts of the country, and I too, have found some aspects of each to be good and bad. San Francisco for sure has the best climate. New England has the best "high brow" cultural opportunities. Chicago's architecture (and food!) is not to be missed.
But each of those places also has negative aspects. BIG negative aspects.
A place is a place. Do not blame geography for your own shortcomings.
Here is what I think: people -- especially young people (under age 30) -- who need to meld their personalities with their physical surroundings, i.e. "I must be cool because I live in Denver which is a cool place" probably should not consider any mid-sized Midwestern community as a place to settle down.
People who are self-starters, who do not need their environment to constantly feed them, encourage them, support them or otherwise assuage their fragile egos, will do extremely well in a place like Evansville.
As a gardener, I like that all four seasons here change almost exactly when the calendar says they should. And that the winters most often include some snow but I can depend on daffodils being in bloom for St. Patrick's Day.
As a former mother, I liked the feeling of safety I had, concerning my child's day-to-day welfare. We were not wealthy, but we lived in a neighborhood where it was safe to let kids play outside unsupervised.
To this day, if a kid shows up in school with a knife or a gun, it is going to be front page news for a week, because of its rarity.
To this day, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus live and work in the same environments; clashes are so rarethat, again, they make front page news for a week. Same sex couples with high-profile careers are not just tolerated, they are invited to posh dinner parties.
We have two universities with stellar theater programs, University of Evansville has a national ranking right up there with Yal
Sara Anne | Evansville, IN