{"id":2694,"date":"2011-12-09T12:33:19","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T18:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=2694"},"modified":"2011-12-13T11:51:24","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T17:51:24","slug":"reader-reactions-%e2%80%98small-towns-are-dying%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2011\/12\/09\/reader-reactions-%e2%80%98small-towns-are-dying%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader Reactions: \u2018Small Towns are Dying\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Joe Wertz \/ NPR StateImpact<\/p>\n

Click here for an interactive map of poverty in Oklahoma's 77 counties.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Poverty in Oklahoma is at a 10-year high, and many of our commenters have been feeling the effects.<\/p>

Responding to our series of interactive maps<\/a> that explores the state\u2019s poverty county-by-county, commenter “Dave” said small American towns are turning into poor villages:<\/p>\n

Industry has no incentive to build plants in smaller towns as they did in the 40’s and 50’s, and military bases are closing. Those two factors \u2014 and farming \u2014 are why small towns could exist in the first place. Now all that’s left is agriculture and maybe some raw material production.<\/p><\/blockquote>

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Jimmywayne \/ Flickr<\/p>\n

Waurika is in Jefferson County, which had a 21.6 percent poverty rate in 2010, according to an estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Commenter “Ryan” said there are simply \u201cno jobs available\u201d in Waurika, a town he describes as having more dollar stores than grocery stores. Ryan\u2019s county, Jefferson, has a 32.2 poverty rate among Oklahomans under 18, which he said creates interesting competition for jobs:<\/p>\n

With the older residents looking for the same jobs as our teens, we simply don’t have anywhere to work except out of town, which was a viable choice back before the economy was in such bad shape.<\/p><\/blockquote>

While more populous counties rank in the middle of the poverty pack \u2014 17.6 percent among all-ages for Oklahoma County; 15.8 percent in Tulsa County \u2014 commenter “Mcdigi,” who taught music in Oklahoma City for 15 years before moving to a small town, said things aren\u2019t any better in urban inner-cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are falling through the cracks. Teachers at our school buy shoes for some of their kiddos out of their own pockets.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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