Published Nov. 26, 2006 in the Hibbing
Daily Tribune
Range finally stays off the bad list
By Aaron J. Brown
Good news: There
was a book
released recently entitled “The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in
America” and
none of our Iron Range towns were listed. Not even Buhl. (Way to pick
it up,
Buhl!*).
This is a pleasant
development, since so many national media outlets like to come to
northern Minnesota
to describe us
as gritty and decaying. Remember when all those actors were promoting “North Country?” To hear them describe our area,
you’d
think we were cooking cats on a spit and speaking an ancient dialect
developed
in underground mines. Invariably, these kinds of articles charge up the
local
chambers of commerce and we have to go through the “Look at our growing
medical
sector and new mining technology!” letter volleys.
<>So it’s nice to dodge the
bullet on this “Worst Places” book. The same good luck did not,
however, reach
our friends to the south and slightly west. Dave Gilmartin’s recent
book
includes the city of St. Cloud, in addition to Detroit, Tulsa, Okla.,
and Los Angeles’
“Skid Row.” I
picked this story out of a Star Tribune article by Joe Tevlin, though
it was
also detailed in the St. Cloud Times and in AP wire reports.
I haven’t read the book, but Tevlin’s story caught my interest,
especially when
he quoted Gilmartin’s thoughts on St. Cloud: “Just about the most
joyless and depressing
university town imaginable. If the endless below-zero weather doesn't
kill you,
its soul-killing culture of sheer hopelessness surely will. “Basically,
people
just eat bad food at buffet-style restaurants and watch themselves get
fat.”
I’ve been to St. Cloud twice.
To be fair, I’d describe the
ratio of fat people to non-fat people as “normal.” My main impression
was that,
for a mid-sized regional center, it was very easy to get lost in St. Cloud. I
know it’s a
river town but it’s more confusing than St. Paul – which is hard to imagine.
I’ve also noticed
that, anecdotally, many of the people I knew who attended college in
St. Cloud
(home of St. Cloud State, St. Ben’s, St. Joe’s and others) end up
drinking a
lot of alcohol after going there. Heck, my first beer – consumed at age
18** –
was in St. Cloud.
Maybe that’s not the town’s fault, but it’s an awfully big coincidence.
Lastly, I do recall
that the
town had an extended suburban feel to it. A number of St. Cloud
residents work in or near the Twin
Cities now, and as such the town has begun to show a homogenized “just
off the
Interstate” look.
I hope this serves
as a
lesson for our local towns. I’ve noticed how excited people have been
getting
about the retail development in Hibbing,
Virginia and Grand Rapids. It’s nice to have chain
restaurants and home
improvement stores. They provide jobs and economic growth. But
suburban-style
retail sprawl at the edge of your town doesn’t necessarily make it a
good place
to live. You’ve got to have a spark of originality and culture …
something I
think we’ve got here on the Iron Range.
Don’t throw that
all away so you can get a TJ Maxx. Trust me. TJ Maxx isn’t that great.
Meantime, keep your
chins up,
St. Cloud.
Remember what made you great and get back to it. We’ve been there and
we’re
pulling for you.
* Buhl, of course,
is a fine
city with a proud history. Because of my loutish use of the town’s good
name in
an attempt at humor I will sing Buhl’s praises in this disclaimer:
“Buhl: We
got great drinking water and a curling club … also some other things,
like
streets and a post office. The bike trail goes through here. Did we
mention the
water?”
** Teen drinking is
wrong.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune.
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