I just did a weekend trip to Van Buren to do the Current River floating. This was my first time in this particular part of the state, and one of my only experiences in true, lower developed, rural Missouri.
Van Buren is in Carlson County, population ~5k. This entire region is incredibly low populated, Reynolds has ~6k people, Wayne has ~11k people, Shannon has ~7k, and Ripley has ~10.6k. So, in total, about 31,000 people across this whole area. So I do fully understand why state funding does not go to these areas, on the surface. However, it is such a shame to see a cute little town like Van Buren, which clearly has tried to improve itself in some ways, look so sad and tired despite a relatively healthy tourist industry.
In my mind, a town like Van Buren should have a Dukes of Hazzard-esc "downtown". It should have sidewalks, curbs, cute streetlights with either town seal or American flag banners. At Christmas time, you'd see wreaths, etc. But it has none of that. They have streetlights that you see in our alleys, the sidewalks are are almost all at street level, if they exist, the main intersection is only a 2-way stop, the town's main park doesn't have any sports fields, and the new county courthouse is located.....on the outskirts of town.
Worst of all, the town's centerpiece, a very old courthouse, was flooded and essentially destroyed in 2017. Today, they are still working to raise money to renovate it, I assume into some sort of tourist attraction.
What is just so beyond me is why does the state not provide funding for these types of basic things? It could not cost more than $10-20M to renovate their courthouse, add nice street light fixtures, and build out a sidewalk network in the "downtown" area. What makes it more sad is that you can tell the city has tried. The existence of streetlights at all for one, and there are some attempts at nice sidewalks and crosswalks for pedestrians. But I just don't think the city can raise the revenue to really do it.
Even the single Van Buren Police car is just a white, pre-2016 Ford Explorer with its front right light out.
I am someone who has sh*t on rural areas and rural people a lot, for a lot of really good reasons, but what I cannot sh*t on them for is that they are right that they have been dejected and forgotten. No one, neither the Democrats or Republicans give a sh*t about Van Buren, or any of the other small charming towns in that area or across the state for that matter. Does this justify how they vote? Not at all. But it would be far easier to implement a city-changing project in these towns than in St. Louis, for example, and easily win votes. Hell, one of the towns we drove through had GRAVEL STREETS. A town of 400+ and the county seat of Reynolds has non-paved streets. In supposedly the richest country in the world.
And I haven't even mentioned the near total lack of cell service, especially usable cell service.
So I've talked a lot about non-investsment by the state in the city, but what about things the state does do? Well, they have at least half a dozen state troopers enforcing underage drinking on the river....because that's super helpful. The state expanded Highway 60 from a 2 lane highway that better accompanied towns to a 4 lane highway that effectively bypass the city. And what development has this highway expansion spurred? A McDonald's, a Cenex with a grocery store, and a Dollar General. And what was the cost? The town's main street grocery store and one of its 3 actual sit down restaurants.
Now, with all this being said, I know nothing about local politics. I know counties down there have some Democratic county-wide offices, but I really don't know how their politics, County/city planning works, or what they're worried about. But it is just so sad to see small towns, many of which have genuine potential, look so sad and unwelcoming simply because the state (and really, also the federal government) does not care about them.
They are always missed in the urbanism field as well, but they shouldn't be. Van Buren and all these small towns deserve to be treated right too, and it's actually much easier to enact noticeable change for cheaper. Small towns like Van Buren remind me that the urban/rural divide is not real. Van Buren functionally operates like St. Louis, as does every town that acts as a center of commerce for a region of any kind. Van Buren is being hurt by car-centric, "suburban" style highways with suburban, car centric development that it incentivizes, as is St. Louis. And every dollar the state spends on building new roads in St. Charles or expanding I-70 is just another dollar not going towards helping small, dejected towns like Van Buren across the state that have far more character and economic potential than a cookie cutter, cancerous suburb will ever have.
Ultimately, my point is that urban people and rural people should not be enemies, neither should hate the other- these people are as proud of Van Buren as we are of St. Louis. Most rural towns are literally just tiny versions of cities. The common enemy, the common parasite sucking away tax dollars, destroying culture, destroying the environment, and is the favorite child of all politicians..... are the post war suburbs.
Van Buren is in Carlson County, population ~5k. This entire region is incredibly low populated, Reynolds has ~6k people, Wayne has ~11k people, Shannon has ~7k, and Ripley has ~10.6k. So, in total, about 31,000 people across this whole area. So I do fully understand why state funding does not go to these areas, on the surface. However, it is such a shame to see a cute little town like Van Buren, which clearly has tried to improve itself in some ways, look so sad and tired despite a relatively healthy tourist industry.
In my mind, a town like Van Buren should have a Dukes of Hazzard-esc "downtown". It should have sidewalks, curbs, cute streetlights with either town seal or American flag banners. At Christmas time, you'd see wreaths, etc. But it has none of that. They have streetlights that you see in our alleys, the sidewalks are are almost all at street level, if they exist, the main intersection is only a 2-way stop, the town's main park doesn't have any sports fields, and the new county courthouse is located.....on the outskirts of town.
Worst of all, the town's centerpiece, a very old courthouse, was flooded and essentially destroyed in 2017. Today, they are still working to raise money to renovate it, I assume into some sort of tourist attraction.
What is just so beyond me is why does the state not provide funding for these types of basic things? It could not cost more than $10-20M to renovate their courthouse, add nice street light fixtures, and build out a sidewalk network in the "downtown" area. What makes it more sad is that you can tell the city has tried. The existence of streetlights at all for one, and there are some attempts at nice sidewalks and crosswalks for pedestrians. But I just don't think the city can raise the revenue to really do it.
Even the single Van Buren Police car is just a white, pre-2016 Ford Explorer with its front right light out.
I am someone who has sh*t on rural areas and rural people a lot, for a lot of really good reasons, but what I cannot sh*t on them for is that they are right that they have been dejected and forgotten. No one, neither the Democrats or Republicans give a sh*t about Van Buren, or any of the other small charming towns in that area or across the state for that matter. Does this justify how they vote? Not at all. But it would be far easier to implement a city-changing project in these towns than in St. Louis, for example, and easily win votes. Hell, one of the towns we drove through had GRAVEL STREETS. A town of 400+ and the county seat of Reynolds has non-paved streets. In supposedly the richest country in the world.
And I haven't even mentioned the near total lack of cell service, especially usable cell service.
So I've talked a lot about non-investsment by the state in the city, but what about things the state does do? Well, they have at least half a dozen state troopers enforcing underage drinking on the river....because that's super helpful. The state expanded Highway 60 from a 2 lane highway that better accompanied towns to a 4 lane highway that effectively bypass the city. And what development has this highway expansion spurred? A McDonald's, a Cenex with a grocery store, and a Dollar General. And what was the cost? The town's main street grocery store and one of its 3 actual sit down restaurants.
Now, with all this being said, I know nothing about local politics. I know counties down there have some Democratic county-wide offices, but I really don't know how their politics, County/city planning works, or what they're worried about. But it is just so sad to see small towns, many of which have genuine potential, look so sad and unwelcoming simply because the state (and really, also the federal government) does not care about them.
They are always missed in the urbanism field as well, but they shouldn't be. Van Buren and all these small towns deserve to be treated right too, and it's actually much easier to enact noticeable change for cheaper. Small towns like Van Buren remind me that the urban/rural divide is not real. Van Buren functionally operates like St. Louis, as does every town that acts as a center of commerce for a region of any kind. Van Buren is being hurt by car-centric, "suburban" style highways with suburban, car centric development that it incentivizes, as is St. Louis. And every dollar the state spends on building new roads in St. Charles or expanding I-70 is just another dollar not going towards helping small, dejected towns like Van Buren across the state that have far more character and economic potential than a cookie cutter, cancerous suburb will ever have.
Ultimately, my point is that urban people and rural people should not be enemies, neither should hate the other- these people are as proud of Van Buren as we are of St. Louis. Most rural towns are literally just tiny versions of cities. The common enemy, the common parasite sucking away tax dollars, destroying culture, destroying the environment, and is the favorite child of all politicians..... are the post war suburbs.
