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,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 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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