Soc 153 - Sociological Imagination Essay
Megan Hance
Mr. Zeisel
SOC 153
16 February 2018
Sociological Imagination Essay
The economy has caused numerous issues within the United States. A lot of cities are affected but smaller ones are hit first. Small towns have lower numbers to begin with. These numbers include population, money, and the amount of businesses the town has. The economy can destroy a town, especially one with less than a thousand-people living it in. Clay City, IL is one of those small towns and it has been in decline for many years. The economy doesn’t just affect the town but also the individuals who are living in it. The economy is causing the local factories to shut down, people to move, schools and businesses to close, and a loss of jobs. People are losing the ability to say that they grew up in a small town and its due to the economic decline of the United States.
Factories are closing down because the economy can’t afford to keep their doors open. Local factories supply the majority of jobs to the individuals who live in a small town. In the case of people who live in Clay City, at one point there were four factories in Flora, IL (10-minute drive) and four factories in Olney, IL (15-minute drive). Clay City has a lot of people who relied on those jobs because Clay City no longer has enough businesses to employ people. Within the past couple of years, a lot of those factories have closed down and had to let their employees go. According to Michael Lucci at Illinois Policy, “Illinois ended 2015 down 14,500 manufacturing jobs”, which is, “An all-time low for factory work”. These factories are shutting down because they no longer have the money to pay their employees and keep their doors open. Many individuals have lost their jobs and have been forced to move or be unemployed due to this. This causes the number in population to go down if the family decides to move elsewhere for employment.
The economy causes towns to lose residents. Most of the time, residents of a small town will begin to move out as soon as signs of struggle begin showing. Most towns will host some type of event every fall to bring the town together. In Clay City, every September they host a Fall Festival to give the kids something fun to do. About 10 to 15 years ago, the festival began losing its spark. They began having less rides, not as many venders, shorter parades, and less activities for the kids. The town no longer had enough money to host the event. A lot of people have moved away from Clay City because there is nothing to do within the community. Clay City doesn’t have any businesses other then a gas station so its hard to find anything to do. This causes the residents of Clay City to travel at least 45 minutes to go to the movies or eat at a decent restaurant. With the low number of businesses that Clay City has, it causes the town to raise the amount that they charge residents for property tax and utility costs. Many of the residents are becoming outraged and are beginning to leave Clay City to find lower prices. Unfortunately, the residents don’t understand that they are part of the reason the prices keep rising. If people would stop leaving or move into town, the prices would normalize, and less people would complain about it. According to the online source of Population.US, Clay City has declined in population within the last 50 to 60 years. In 1960, Clay City was recorded to have at least 1,144 residents and now in 2018 is only recorded to have 916 residents.
The economy could cause the school to shut down or cause multiple local businesses to close their doors. A lot of schools in Illinois are choosing to shut down because the state funding has slowed, and the schools are struggling to stay open. The schools can no longer buy new books or pay to make the students lunch, and this becomes a problem due to regulations set forth by the Board of Education. Another reason small town schools are deciding to shut down is due to the fact of students moving out of the district in order for their parents to find employment elsewhere or to go to a bigger school that doesn’t stand the risk of becoming unstable. Closing of schools becomes a problem because education opportunities are harder to find, students will have to travel to find a school, the children would lose out on the ability to play sports for their hometown, and the parents will have to take extra time in the morning to travel and take their children to school rather then them being able to ride the bus or it be a 5 minute drive. Sadly, local businesses get hurt first when the town is in an economic decline. Businesses shut down because not enough people are spending their money for their products. This makes it hard for the company to make any money because they get used to their usual costumers from the town. Without the inflow of money, the business is no longer able to pay their property taxes and are unable to afford their utilities. Clay City at one point had a good-sized grocery store that was very handy when it came time to restocking the shelves at home, but it had to close due to no longer being able to afford to stay open. Although the business might be needed by the town, they choose to shut down because they can no longer afford to stay open.