Observations and Reflections from My Nationwide Speaking Tour

This is a second in a series of posts about my two-month, 9200-mile student affairs professional development tour that I undertook from mid-September through early November this year. I've shared some numbers in the first post. I am still sorting through and processing notes and info I gathered during my campus visits and presentations to staff, so the next few posts will share my general observations travelling through 22 diverse American states.

This one addresses the differences I found between driving in the eastern part of the country versus the western part, and some of what I saw out west.

East vs. West/Interstates vs. Highways

I had two distinctly different driving experiences: in the eastern portions of the trip (east of Dubuque, IA on the way out, and east of Fort Worth, TX on the way back) and in the west. In the eastern portions of the trip, I drove more than 95% of the time on interstates, while the western portions were split pretty evenly between interstates and non-interstate highways (especially on the west coast and in the Southwest).

I didn't always intend to drive on non-interstate highways when I drove west from Dubuque. Google Maps determined which roads I took. These were the most direct routes to my next destination and, for the most part, I could travel at almost interstate speed, so traveling on smaller highways didn't really slow me down much.

What this experience illuminated for me is that driving on interstates in the east is like driving through a tunnel. You have no idea what kind of place you are driving through. Most interstates are bordered by trees, so you really can't see anything other than the road, the trees, and the signs you pass. There is no ability to get a sense of the space you are traversing--which also makes the drives boring and sleep-inducing. I found I needed more breaks and caffeine when driving long distances on eastern interstates. Out west, drivers are treated much more frequently to broad vistas, given the sparseness of tree cover.

Out west, as one approaches a city or town, the non-interstate highways turn to secondary roads. Speed is reduced, and a driver can see much more of a city or town, even when they are just passing through without stopping. Houses, stores, other businesses, services, parks and recreation spaces, and houses of worship all become visible in a way that driving on an interstate around a town precludes. One can get some sense of the place. Is it thriving? Is it tired and worn? Are there a lot of empty storefronts? Is there activity to be seen? Do things look fresh?

In the east, many factors dissuade drivers from taking alternatives to the interstate. Speed limits on non-interstate highways tend to be lower in the east than out west (where they are often 75 MPH!). Also, east of the Mississippi River cities and towns are closer together, so the slowdowns in populated areas are more frequent and last longer.

Out west, I drove through and stayed in towns like Fort Dodge, IA; Custer, SD; Florence, OR; Crescent City, CA; San Luis Obispo, CA; Buckeye, AZ; Deming, NM; Roswell, NM; and Lubbock, TX. Heading back east from Fort Worth, TX, I tended to stop in bigger cities, such as Little Rock, AR; Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; and Cleveland, OH. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it is a very different experience than driving through smaller cities and towns.

So, what did I see in those towns and small cities out west?

Disclaimer: Obviously, this is a small sample of the towns and cities out west, only those the highways took me through. But this is what I saw:

In too many of the towns and small cities I passed, I saw lots of vacant store fronts. I saw tired places. I saw decay. I saw sadness. I saw a lot of emptiness and quiet. I fully realize I was just driving through and so was seeing the veneer, but I found it disturbing. What I also noticed was that at the edge of these towns invariably was a Dollar General store (or sometimes a Family Dollar store). To me, such stores seem to be the equivalent of the "Checks Cashed Here" signs I would see in poor neighborhoods when I traveled in my 20s and 30s.

I was stunned by how many such stores I saw, and I wanted to know how many there are in the U.S. I was surprised to discover through Google that there are more than 19,000 Dollar General stores in the U.S. (and more than 8,000 Family Dollar stores).

I am no economic expert, but it seems to me that such corporate entities suck money out of poor places--profits flow up to the company. It made me wonder about the relationship between the closed, locally owned (I assume), retail stores I saw in the little downtowns and these discount places on the edge of town. No wonder folks who live in small towns and rural areas still feel so left out of the otherwise good economic news that we hear.

Have any of you reading this had similar or different experiences?

Do you folks who live in or know of small towns and cities out west have different perspectives?

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about this adventure, feel free to reach out to me at patrick@drpatricklove.org.