The Gentrification of Rural America

"There's a human cost to this real estate bubble. Children can't afford to buy homes in the towns they grew up in; they leave the area and even close families get split up. Downtowns become full of art galleries and homemade soap stores instead of shoemakers, fish markets, greengrocers and soda fountains. Our friends and neighbors are forced to leave. We no longer see familiar faces when we walk downtown.

"It used to be the American Dream: buy a home on a 30-year mortgage, make friends, work hard, raise a family, be part of the community, watch the children marry, help them set down nearby roots, finally have a party and burn the mortgage, retire and putter in the garden, die and be buried in the local cemetery.

"This was a great dream, a great promise, and now it's gone."