Is it feasible to recreate U.S. small town sustaining economies similar to those of the 1960s?
Making an assumption that having most of the US population centered in cities and their surrounding metro regions (where jobs were concentrated in factories) has contributed to the speed with which this recession has devastated the entire country, I wonder if it is possible for our society to decentralize, rebuilding a modern version of a small town. Or is nearly 30 years too long for average Americans to remember how or have a desire for a somewhat isolated small town existence? I was recalling the economic system of the 900 person town (Farmington, Iowa) where I grew up in the late 50’s to early 70’s with these businesses…2 new car dealers, 4 branded fuel and maintenace gas stations, 2+ physicians’s, 1 dentist, 1 funeral parlor, 1 bank, 3 grocery stores, 2 insurance agencies, 3 barber/beauty shops, 1 dry goods variety store 1 coin laundramat, 1 dry cleaner, 2 feed stores, 1 drug store/pharmacy, 1 library, a mayor, a town marshall and a night watchman, a city council, city water and
