California's Disappearing Towns -- Huron may not be here a year from now

[marmar]

from New America Media:



California's Disappearing Towns -- Huron may not be here a year from now
New America Media, News Feature, Viji Sundaram, Posted: Jul 07, 2009


HURON, Calif. -– As you drive down Highway 198 toward the tiny Central Valley city of Huron, yellow-and-black signs poke out from parched fields with a message that harkens back to the days of the Great Depression: “Congress Created Dustbowls.”

The signs, believed to be the handiwork of the Central Valley’s agricultural industry, reflect a collective cry of desperation from a community of about 7,300 Mexican immigrants, who have made this Fresno County town their home, with hopes of realizing the American dream.

That dream, many of them are finding out, is increasingly getting more and more elusive.

It certainly is for Maria Ramos, 57, a widow and mother of three, who was laid off a few months back after working for 25 years, sometimes as a farm hand and sometimes on the assembly lines of an onion packaging plant. At the time she was let go, she was making the minimum wage of $8.25 an hour. She’s not sure she’ll find another job any time soon, given the current water crisis Huron and many other Central Valley communities are experiencing.

“There are a lot of people in my situation,” Ramos said in Spanish through an interpreter, adding: “We don’t know where to go; there are just no jobs.” .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fe824636288f2231f5e75d0e0b6d7ca3

[zorahopkins]

1. Many, Many Towns Have Disappeared or Are Disappearing.....

What's happening in California has been happening in "fly-over country" for years.

Towns in places like Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, etc. have disappeared for YEARS.

Many are even now disappearing.

The Great De-Population of the Great Plains has been taking place for YEARS!

[Retrograde]

2. It won't be the first time

Visit Bodie, CA sometime: former population ~10,000. Current population: 0 (not counting about a dozen Parks employees). The West is littered with former boom towns - in some cases you have to really search to find any remains.

[Mimosa]

3. No jobs for rural America

WHO sold out America's jobs and why? Are we going to put up with almost every single manufactured good being imported? Even our foods are increasingly imported. I want somebody we elect to do something about it. I expected Obama to care and to act.

[stevedeshazer]

4. The West is full of ghost towns.

200 years of boom-or-bust resource extraction.