[meteorite-list] Greensburg Kansas Anniversary

From: Dave Carothers <david.carothers_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 03 May 2008 18:05:11 -0400
Message-ID: <026f01c8ad69$c3da63e0$6401a8c0_at_WINBOOKJ>

Steve,

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide such a deeply personal,
heart-felt, and insightful reply. I went through a wide range of emotions
while reading your post. On one extreme, feeling happy and proud for the
people staying to rebuild Greensburg and on the other end of the spectrum,
sad at the historical and cultural losses incurred by the populace. Your
post is a great testamonial to the town and people of Greensburg.

I for one will continue to keep the town and inhabitants of Greensburg in my
prayers.

Regards,

Dave


----- Original Message -----
From: <MeteorHntr at aol.com>
To: <david.carothers at verizon.net>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Greensburg Kansas Anniversary


> Hello Dave and All,
>
> Thanks for the post. As many of you know, my house in Greensburg was
> destroyed by the tornado one year ago tomorrow. Well, technically, it
> wasn't
> totally destroyed then, but by the time the city came along and bulldozed
> it
> without my permission it was then totally destroyed. But it is now
> usually
> easier to just say "my house was destroyed by the tornado."
>
> I have been told that the Kansas media had decided to censor themselves
> and
> they agreed not to write anything negative about the rebuilding of
> Greensburg
> as their way to help the town have the best shot at getting back on its
> feet. So, most everything I have read has been quite positive.
>
> The town does have some major challenges. It all goes back to that pesky
> "Supply and Demand" equation. It is translated here to the challenge of:
> The
> city needs people living there for businesses to be able to come back,
> but the
> city needs businesses there for people to want to move back.
>
> A bit of a Catch 22.
>
> Greensburg is the county seat of Kiowa county, so part of it had to be
> rebuilt, even if no one wanted to live there. But it does seem there are
> some
> people that do want to live there.
>
> One year ago today, there were a LOT of homes in Greensburg with For Sale
> Signs in their front yards. Some of those homes had been on the market
> for a
> long time, as buyers were not plentiful. So it was no surprise when so
> many
> people met with their insurance adjustors, standing in their yard with a
> big
> fat check in their hands, they decided to take their checks and move
> elsewhere
> with their money. Many of these people were older, and the choice to
> live
> in a town or city with better medical facilities was a decision most of
> these
> people faced regularly with or without EF-5 help.
>
> As a farm community two hours outside of Wichita, and an hour east of
> Dodge
> City, it is too far for most business and industry to want to consider
> building there.
>
> I think I read that there was 1,000 homes there before the tornado and
> there
> have been around 136 new building permits issued this year. Most people
> still staying in town are living in "FEMAville" the huge mobile home park
> set up
> with FEMA supplied white mobile homes. I am not sure how long people can
> stay in them. For many, they can't afford to rebuild, but they have no
> where
> else to go.
>
> Without a job, it is hard for some to want to rebuild. But there are
> some
> people that don't want to leave either.
>
> I did hear from a local friend that it was determined that it cost 20%
> MORE
> to rebuild in Greensburg than it did anywhere else in Kansas. The
> primary
> reason was that the construction workers have to commute often from and
> back to
> Dodge City every day to stay in their hotels. Top that with the need for
> construction workers to return to their homes (wherever that might be) on
> the
> weekends. Without a construction workforce living in the town, like all
> other
> towns have, it is just more expensive to build.
>
> Then, real estate prices have a trend to go DOWN in value in western
> Kansas
> anyway.
>
> I'm not sure, but I think about the cheapest home that could be built
> would
> be around $125,000, with most probably being between $150,000 and
> $250,000.
> Well, how many Minimum wage workers can pay a mortgage or rent on that
> nice
> of a home? With no low cost options, much of the work force is prices
> out
> of living there.
>
> I don't mean to sound to negative. The attempt here is to be maybe a bit
> more "realistic."
>
> I think there was a strong desire for people to want to make the town
> "the
> way it was before." But the reality is, if even half of the old
> residents
> returned, and the full population grew back with new residents and 99% of
> the
> buildings in town are rebuilt, there is NO WAY they can even start to get
> it
> "the way it was before."
>
> And everyone there realizes that. And no one is really trying to make it
> the way it was before.
>
> Greensburg, with the people who are choosing to rebuild is an ongoing
> story
> of courage and struggle.
>
> Many people have chosen to fight their personal battles of courage and
> struggle in other places, and to not come back. Some older people moved
> strait
> into rest homes in other nearby and not so nearby towns. Most kids
> graduating
> from Greensburg High School go off to college, and few would return home
> even
> back when they had a home to return to. As a kid who grew up in Kansas,
> I
> know first hand how most kids can't wait to "get the hell out of Dodge"
> and to
> go experience the excitement that the real world has to offer.
>
> Maybe community pride is stronger now in Greensburg, and I think many of
> the
> kids leaving will seriously consider moving back. But if I had to bet,
> even
> after serious consideration, most won't. There is a big world out there,
> a
> world with fast food restaurants, and shopping malls, and jobs, and other
> people. All things, that in comparison, Greensburg in the best case
> outcome
> will still be severely lacking.
>
> Other challenges: With maybe 80% or so of the tax base gone, that puts
> all
> the tax burden on the few people staying. With so many people gone,
> there is
> a smaller pool of leaders to be elected from to oversee the rebuilding.
> With gas prices as they are, there are fewer and fewer travelers driving
> through. With advancements in technology, it takes fewer and fewer
> people to farm
> the fields surrounding the city, so fewer people are needed there.
>
> Communities are NOT entirely the buildings set inside the city limits
> signs.
> I remember that after I grew up and moved out of my home town of Fort
> Scott, Kansas, the first few years I would return on some weekends, and go
> to
> football games and see kids that I knew that were younger than me. And I
> would
> see people in the community that were older that I knew.
>
> Then over the years I mostly only came home to see my father, and most
> all
> of my friends had moved on. Then by the time he moved from the town 15
> years
> later, there were few reasons to pull me back. Yes, MUCH of the town
> still
> looks the same today. But for me it is a different community than when I
> was
> there.
>
> But I can drive around today and see things that still anchor old
> memories
> of growing up in the small town of 8,000. Thoughts of how it might not
> have
> been all that bad to move back and raise a family here after all. Such
> revelations often take a 25 year Reunion to realize.
>
> While the town looks the same, although strangely, it seems smaller, few
> of
> the people I knew before are still there today. In October, I brought
> the
> Brenham Main Mass to the High School and the Junior High where I
> attended. It
> was fun, but I only recognized 4 or 5 teachers (and a couple of which I
> recognized because they were students when I was a student). Of course,
> many of
> the kids I saw were probably kids of people I went to school with. And
> if I
> had stayed there all along, then new relationships would have formed as
> they
> would have replace old ones that faded away over time.
>
> And yet, all this happened in a town that didn't get ALL the buildings
> blown
> away, where ALL the residents were temporarily displaced and where maybe
> 75%
> will decide not to come back ever.
>
> I can't image how different Greensburg is going to be. Yes, they will
> get
> some buildings back up. They will get some people back. They will get
> some
> new people to move in...maybe. But there is no way it will be ANYTHING
> like
> it used to be.
>
> When people return, there isn't the old theater where they got their
> first
> kiss. There isn't the old high school basketball court where they shot
> the
> game winning shot their senior year. There isn't the restaurant where
> their
> Grandpa used to take them for hamburgers when they were little. There
> isn't
> the neighbor lady that used to spend so much time working on her rose
> bushes in
> front of her 1910's farm house that was hauled into town from a farm 50
> years ago. There isn't the swing set in the park that would pinch you if
> you
> weren't careful, or the slippery slide that would burn you if you went
> down it
> with shorts on. There isn't the antique store where you could spend
> hours
> shopping in that used to be the old Methodist Church. I could go on and
> on.
>
> And while the "community" really is the people, the physical buildings
> and
> landmarks and such are some of the anchors in one's memory as to the way
> it
> used to be.
>
> So there has been a purging. Greensburg is for all intents and purposes
> a
> new town. The people rebuilding have to have a new and optimistic
> outlook on
> life. The pessimists will find it easier to move on elsewhere.
>
> Humans tend to like to hold on to the familiar, to hold onto the past.
> Well, there's not that much left to hold onto with Greensburg, so they
> get the
> challenges to rebuilding from scratch.
>
> People in Greensburg have asked if am rebuilding my house in Greensburg,
> and
> I chuckle and say "no" as most of my work in the area is done. The
> appeal
> of building a $150,000 house I won't live in much, only to sell it later
> for
> $125,000 as real estate continues to depress in value is not my idea of
> fun.
> Now if I didn't have another home elsewhere, and since my income is not
> derived from local business, I might have considered it.
>
> I was blessed in that I only lost a house, but not my home. Some of my
> neighbors lost their homes and even more.
>
> I am so happy for many of them that are happy in moving on. I am happy
> for
> those that are enjoying the challenge of staying and rebuilding.
>
> I am happy that I got to experience things such watching the movie CARS
> in
> the old theater in downtown Greensburg a couple of years ago, and walking
> the
> streets home several blocks that night comparing the demise of the
> fictional
> town in that movie on the old highway to Greensburg and wondering if
> anything
> would ever be able to reroute people back to that dwindling town on the
> prairie.
>
> I am glad I got to meet some of my neighbors there, and got to form some
> friendships that will last a lifetime.
>
> I am not sure if that answers your question Dave? If you want more
> cheerful stories, I invite you to go to the websites of the Hutchinson
> and Wichita
> papers. I am sure there are many great stories to be told there.
>
> Honestly, I think it is going to take the 10 year anniversary before we
> have
> a good idea of how this is going to all shake out.
>
> Steve Arnold #1
> Arkansas
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 5/3/2008 12:39:30 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> david.carothers at verizon.net writes:
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
> Lest we forget that one year ago, a tornado ripped through Greensburg,
> Kansas, destroying most of it. Many of the members of this list
> contributed
> and worked the effort to donate to the reconstruction of the town.
>
> For those who might be interested, the Discovery Channel is hosting a 60
> minute program on May 03, at 8:00 pm titled "Blown Away: Greensburg,
> Kansas". The program will be shown again on May 04, at 12:00 am.
>
> Steve Arnold #1 or Geoff Notkin... I'm interesteed in how Greensburg has
> progressed these past 12 months. Would you or anyone else on the list be
> able to provide and update?
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sat 03 May 2008 06:05:11 PM PDT