Fundamentally Broken

The first time it happened I was around middle school age, old enough to leave town with friends anyway, in conversation with someone they asked where I was from. I responded with “Osceola”, their face scrunched up in disgust and they said “oh, I’m sorry”. This is something that has happened repeatedly since then, and I think its an accurate indication of how this town presents itself to others.

As a teen I of course agreed with those outsiders, what teenager doesn’t hate their hometown and dream about getting out, but as I have gotten older those feeling haven’t changed. I constantly hear about how great Osceola is, how we are getting new and exciting things and have such a great history, but I would beg to differ. There are very few jobs here that require a degree, so those young educated families with student loans aren’t staying because they can’t find work in their field. That means that good families with potential to have disposable income are leaving, along with that there is nothing here for families. There are no activities taking place (I should say that there are a few festivities that happen but they are the same ones that have been happening since I was a child and are old and tired) for parents to take children to, while there are parks for children to play at that gets old fast.

The narrative that we need to make people shop local is a gross misunderstanding, people aren’t choosing to shop elsewhere because they don’t care about the business here in town, they choose to shop elsewhere because they cannot get what they need here. The business we do have are amazing and I am truly in awe of how hard they work, but I can also empathize with those who choose not to open a business, work out of their home or open business in other communities. The building around are square are a mess, they are historical and have beautiful architecture but they are falling apart. As an individual it is almost overwhelming to think that if I wanted to open a business I would need to purchase a building, have the financial resources and time to be able to renovate a building before I could ever open the doors to any sort of business, and then continue to wait for that business to turn a profit.

We need city government and organizations to really listen to the needs of the community, just as teachers and a million other professions they should always strive to be learning and embracing change, continuing to learn about city planning, environmental impacts and how to create spaces dedicated to the ways in which people actually use them, not how they want them to be used. By this I mean one example would be the old practice when building cities to erect buildings then wait for a year before adding sidewalks. This allows people to create “desired paths” in the grass thus allowing city planners and builders to see the most desired/taken route across the town.

The idea that we rely on volunteers for so many things is ridiculous, when someone is in a volunteer spot it should be because there is a need for a body not because those within organizations do not want to pay people for their education, ideas and previous experiences. There are incredibly talented people within out community but the idea of asking them to do things that make use of their talents and education without pay is insulting.

There are often “new” things presented to the town as growth, but they are really just a band aid and do not address the foundational issues. While creating these new systems, or programs may save money or make people forget about their issues in the short term, they will not last and those cracks in the foundation of this community will always creep back in, until they are met head on.