31–40 of 94 posts
The problem is upkeep and finding something useful to do with the place.
I know in Germany some of the NATO military towns have been repurposed.
Sounds like the owner or the bank are just trying to generate some PR buzz and rip off someone not from the area with more money than sense. It's a few acres of prairie with some buildings that need to be torn down. I'm not up to date on land prices in western SD, but I can't imagine good pasture land is worth more than $2k/acre, even with the surge in beef prices recently. It's also worth noting that the Pine Ridge…
About the poverty: When I was in college in the mid-90s, I went on spring break work trips to the Rosebud reservation, and they cited a 90% adult male alcoholism rate.
What makes this a 'town' and not just a plot of land? I'm assuming there's zero infrastructure to be managed, so what's left?
On one hand, this is a little land with a few building in unattractive location/condition. Not so queer. On the other… We are at a point in time when the wealthy are extremely wealthy. The billionaire club is substantial but even below that, personal wealth in the tens or hundreds of millions exists. What do people want to do with that wealth? It's more than can really be spent on comfort, entertainment, sex and such…
There are a few (at least in the "whatnot" category), but they think bigger than 1000-person towns, and it's often unpopular with the public: http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/01/under-new-management/ .
On one hand, this is a little land with a few building in unattractive location/condition. Not so queer. On the other… We are at a point in time when the wealthy are extremely wealthy. The billionaire club is substantial but even below that, personal wealth in the tens or hundreds of millions exists. What do people want to do with that wealth? It's more than can really be spent on comfort, entertainment, sex and such…
* Experiments that have been tried (like anarchism and some kinds of communalism) and don't need repeating
* Obviously terrible ideas (anarchism again, communism, some others)
* Beyond the ready scope of purely legal changes (feminism)
And this is even before you start addressing the problems of getting 1000 people going in an environment with meaningful infrastructure. Or having it function economically without being a gaping money pit.
I suspect smart and wealthy people interested in changing society tend to realize that there are more ways to break society than there are to improve society. Therefore, smaller changes that do not individually break society are preferable to changing everything at once and praying you didn't introduce a killer bug somewhere in your batch of a million changes.
As a result, you get more people like George Soros than you do Lenin. For which we may want to consider being thankful.
Sounds like the owner or the bank are just trying to generate some PR buzz and rip off someone not from the area with more money than sense. It's a few acres of prairie with some buildings that need to be torn down. I'm not up to date on land prices in western SD, but I can't imagine good pasture land is worth more than $2k/acre, even with the surge in beef prices recently. It's also worth noting that the Pine Ridge…
According to Google Maps, it's on the Pine Ridge Reservation. An outsider thinking he'd like to own a small town in the country might be in for a surprise. I went to high school on a different reservation in western South Dakota. About the poverty: When I was in college in the mid-90s, I went on spring break work trips to the Rosebud reservation, and they cited a 90% adult male alcoholism rate.
I volunteered with the Habitat chapter near there. They could not build on the res because any houses under construction would be stripped of their copper wire and plumbing before they could be completed. What they really need is a big employer to set up shop there: rising tide floating all boats, etc.
I'm confused. This town is in South Dakota, but the house linked to in the article, from Silence of the Lambs, is in Pennsylvania.
Sounds like the owner or the bank are just trying to generate some PR buzz and rip off someone not from the area with more money than sense. It's a few acres of prairie with some buildings that need to be torn down. I'm not up to date on land prices in western SD, but I can't imagine good pasture land is worth more than $2k/acre, even with the surge in beef prices recently. It's also worth noting that the Pine Ridge…
According to Google Maps, it's on the Pine Ridge Reservation. An outsider thinking he'd like to own a small town in the country might be in for a surprise. I went to high school on a different reservation in western South Dakota. About the poverty: When I was in college in the mid-90s, I went on spring break work trips to the Rosebud reservation, and they cited a 90% adult male alcoholism rate.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to Google Maps, it's on the Pine Ridge Reservation. An outsider thinking he'd like to own a small town in the country might be in for a surprise. I went to high school on a different reservation in western South Dakota. About the poverty: When I was in college in the mid-90s, I went on spring break work trips to the Rosebud reservation, and they cited a 90% adult male alcoholism rate.
The alcoholism and poverty on Pine Ridge and Rosebud are no joke. I think there's a genetic component and a cultural component that together almost guarantee it; both drivers are exacerbated by the insular nature of their community. I volunteered with the Habitat chapter near there. They could not build on the res because any houses under construction would be stripped of their copper wire and plumbing before they co…
You want to explain that, particularly the genetic component?
I think this is it: https://goo.gl/maps/HTZMUk4N2Pt
It's just a short drive to Wounded Knee; that would make it a convenient tourist stop all its own. "On your way to Wounded Knee, stop and stay at the haunted bed and breakfast in Swett!"