By Frances Juhlin, Guest Columnist
This is a response to the guest column written by Joe Bott in regards to the Cherokee County school consolidation issue. I believe both sides have good arguments, but that’s not what this letter is about.
His description of someone moving to a quiet, rural small-town area for his family to enjoy the benefits of mountains and schools that his kids could benefit from are valid reasons for many of us, as well as the kids who are from here.
Back in the day 38 years ago, we moved here so our family and kids who were born here could have a better opportunity to live a meaningful life. At that time, working families with kids could afford to live here, and there were many jobs tied to factory work that paid enough to sustain them. Those factories are gone, and what’s left is a tourist/retirement economy that brings, for the most part, low-paying service jobs.
Many small businesses owned by real people were taken out, and continue to due so, by larger chain box stores, which the numerous people who came here for that quiet life experience expected to serve their specific desires. So I ask, why do you want it to be like the busy place you left?
Bott’s suggestion that replacing the property of Murphy High School with an outlet mall, which is a dying entity all over the country, is not going to solve the problems of lack of well-paying sustainable jobs, which would allow younger people and working families to remain in the area.
Young people who have gotten an education like our kids would want to come back here, but there are not many jobs that would accommodate their degrees. We have watched a steady decline of people with school-age children overall. This is not unique to other rural spaces.
An idea that an outlet mall would bring lots of money and people from elsewhere and provide local working people with more low-paying service jobs is absurd.
My suggestion is to go with what works for the logistics. We are biased, of course, but small farms like ours and other authentic cottage occupations run by individuals would be a better choice and allow talented hard-working folks to thrive with meaningful products and services. It would also preserve the land and prevent the unfettered development so many seek for their own personal benefit.
If you agree with my suggestion, then vote with your dollars and demand that our local leaders support sustainable growth and not mass-produced development, which only benefits those who already have more than they need.
The writer is a resident of Murphy.