Biggest problem facing MSU (and Ole Miss)

[5049]

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...sus-finds-state-again-loses-people/975187001/

Need to find a way to curb that, and quickly. Now, the census bureau is notorious for under representing rural areas (they assume they are all declining in population), but that said, at minimum we can infer there is a problem. State is not growing.

Most people probably don’t care. But they should, especially if you care about the long term viability of MSU.

 

[57stratdawg]

Mississippi is the only southern state besides West Virginia seeing outmigration.

 

[msu]

"Mississippi was one of eight states estimated to lose population, along with neighboring Louisiana." I guess LA isn't a southern state if you consider the west Virginia quote.

Unless LA is losing because of birth to death ratio and not "out-migration."

 

[shotgunDawg]

Mississippi needs Jackson to be a legit city. I’m not sure it will happen in my life time.

Until then, the state is New Jersey 2.0 in the sense it is boardered on all sides by close metropolitan areas that provide greater opportunities. New Jersey has NY to the north and Philly to the south while MS has NO, Memphis, Bham, and mobile. These people aren’t moving far, but until Jackson becomes a competitive city, it will continue to happen

 

[patdog]

Yeah. West Virginia was specifically created because it was the part of Virginia that was NOT southern.

 

[Go Budaw]

Mississippi needs Jackson to be a legit city. I’m not sure it will happen in my life time.

Until then, the state is New Jersey 2.0 in the sense it is boardered on all sides by close metropolitan areas that provide greater opportunities. New Jersey has NY to the north and Philly to the south while MS has NO, Memphis, Bham, and mobile. These people aren’t moving far, but until Jackson becomes a competitive city, it will continue to happen

Jackson sucks, but it is far from Mississippi’s only problem. The biggest problem is there are no other Jacksons besides Jackson. A state with as much landmass (pun definitely intended) as Mississippi can never thrive with just one metropolitan area amongst a sea of isolated shanty towns from one end of the state to the other. I mean, the absolute ceiling for Jackson is to become like a Huntsville, AL in its development, as it is a similar population comparison. And by “ceiling”, I mean pie-in-the-sky fantasy that will never happen. But even if it could happen, imagine if Huntsville was the only major metro area in all of Alabama. Alabama would be in the same boat as Mississippi.

Quite frankly, Mississippi is beyond saving in many respects. The only growing area of the state is suburban Memphis (which MS can’t really even take credit for). Meridian, Tupelo, Hattiesburg are all on the decline. The coast is treading water and just keeping up the status quo of the past 20 years in regards to its growth. No new major industry coming in anywhere. Agriculture continuing to decline as a viable individual career path and lifestyle. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to stop the bleeding.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

We need to take a page out of Texas's playbook and pay smart, successful people from other states to move here.

 

[bulldognation]

You can thank years of government by majority Ole Miss grads for stunting Mississippi’s growth.
Thanks Rebels for once again being the anchor that has held our state back for the past fifty years.

 

[wpmusm]

I agree with a lot of what you said, but I’d have to disagree that Hattiesburg and the Coast are in decline. Hattiesburg and Gulfport/Biloxi have had decent growth (4-5%) since 2010. Only other parts of the state that are doing better than that are DeSoto County (like you said, more Memphis than Mississippi) and Oxford (not really a metro/urban area).

The only thing that was holding Hattiesburg back in recent years was poor leadership, and now that problem is fixed. The new mayor is striving to have a city like Chattanooga, Huntsville, Mobile, etc instead of Meridian or Tupelo.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

Since they're the flagship, it's all Ole Miss' fault

Ole Miss has purposely hindered Mississippi's economy, mainly through Lawyers. Whereas most lawyers in America go to law school to learn law, justice, and the American legal system, Ole miss lawyers were taught to do two things:

- Keep blacks and poor whites down, and....
- Keep big business out.

For the first hundred years after the Civil War, they were successful. When most Mississippi A&M (and later Mississippi State) students and alums, along with Jackson State, Mississippi Southern, etc. went off to fight the Kaiser, the Nazis, and the Imperial Japanese Empire, most Ole miss students stayed home, were considered "essential on the domestic front"...in the meantime working to put those mississippians who tasted equality, freedom, and respect because of their bravery and courage, "in their places".

After the 101st Airborne bitchslapped OM students, the 1965 Civil Rights Act, and Sam Cunningham ran all over Bammer at Legion Field, the "keeping the blacks and poor whites down" had to go underground. However....

Ole miss could still work to keep big business out and keep the people of Mississippi poor. This way, they could always have grateful mamas who "loved Jesus" on one hand and got above-minimum-wage jobs with health insurance, while their sons were getting keelhauled by hos and Ole Miss Baptist Preachers' daughters.

If Ole Miss lost their "flagship" status, the State Of Mississippi would become an economic powerhouse, with business and industry flocking here. They need to go the way of the University of Ohio, a nice little niche school.

 

[LandArchDawg]

Mississippi has its thriving spots- P5 college towns, Tupelo and Hernando developing character and culture. The rest of Mississippi is facing the same trouble as any other rural area, brain drain due to no well-paying jobs for professionals and college graduates. In rural areas, if you don't come from money, there's really no point in staying.

 

[coach66]

There are no great industries like Telecom based in Jackson anymore which

made Jackson a pretty cool place in the 80's and 90's. We have to find something similar to that as the bell cow and
it will lead to other companies coming in. Also, small industrial plants were all over Mississippi for decades and that just isn't the case anymore. Is it reversible, not sure with all the automation and AI on the horizon.

 

[was21]

Until the "leadership" and the majority of the electorate decides to join the United States of America there won't be a major change. That image is the one projected to major corporations and other entities that would cause the state to grow and prosper.

 

[RocketDawg]

The Census Bureau considers West Virginia, Maryland, and I think Delaware to be southern states. Mason Dixon line defines north/south.

 

[KurtRambis4]

You're right. The leadership in Jackson

cannot see past their racists/bigoted ways enough to do good. What they did when Trump came was absolutely a joke.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Are you saying you're envious of Nola, Memphis, Bham and Mobile ? Good gawd man come in off the ledge .

 

[coach66]

While my expectations are quite low for the new mayor I must admit there is

a glimmer of hope that he is going to try and move things forward. His dad saw the light to some degree that business/commerce and tax base drive a city forward and unite it. We have been concentrating on decisive issues and policies for too long and hopefully fatigue is setting in for all camps.

 

[KurtRambis4]

For me, there WAS

a glimmer of hope, until I saw the stunt he pulled a few weekends ago, to grandstand and show his racism overrides his decision making.

You've got a city whose infrastructure is on par with Mogadishu, and the leader of the free world (who is pushing for major infrastructure upgrades throughout the NATION) is in town.

Perfect opportunity to talk and elicit Federal funds for said work, right?

Wrong.

Time for “powa to tha people!1” “he ain’t my prez!!1”

17ing racists morons suck.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Just my two cents, but I think a lot of the current Mississippians like things as they are now as far as not a lot of metropolitan areas and growing cities. They (we) grew up in a very rural setting gardening and working on farms and it is the ife they know and love. They want access to big cities when needed, but home will always be that 100 acre farm where you can't hear car alarms, sirens, and 15" subwoofers rattling trunks from three blocks away. They like the freedom to take a whiz off their back patio without someone seeing them and calling the cops. They like being able to look up and see the stars at night. I say all that not to imply I am against the state growing and becoming more prosperous. I'm just saying that a lot of people in the state today would cringe at the thought of it becoming more urbanized and losing that rural feel. As those of us 40 and up start to depart this world for the next, I have a feeling the next generation will be more open to that. I'm starting to see that now with more condos and apartments being built. Subdivisions with the houses so close you can spit from your back porch and hit the next house. The says of subdivisions on 1/2 acre lots seems to be going the way of the dodo. Not saying one way of life is superior to the other. It just all comes down to preference and right now the preference in MS seems to be the more rural existence.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Are you saying you're envious of Nola, Memphis, Bham and Mobile ? Good gawd man come in off the ledge .

Exactly. Even though each has a viable and growing suburban area, really only Birmingham has a truly viable downtown area. All of these cities have major blight and crumbling neighborhoods and unfortunately that is where the poor have settled and remained. And each of those areas have pockets of suburbia that's cost prohibitive for the poor or lower middle class to afford to escape to.

On the other hand, as the poor and lower middle class of Jackson choose to abandon their unsafe neighborhoods, they have affordable options in Byram, Clinton, Ridgeland, Pearl and Brandon.

Heck, most Middle to Upper Middle Class would struggle to afford Homewood, Al.

But even cities like Baton Rouge, which had tremendous growth following Katrina, have more blighted areas than reasonably priced safe zones. The northern part of that vast geographical city continues to deteriorate while the south central areas boom with growth and business expansion.

But let's not act like this is only a "Southern" thing. Ever heard of Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cleveland?

Whether we like to admit it or not, there is a Racial component to this issue, and until there are real livable earnings jobs in the Mississippi Delta and in Jackson, there is no way for capital improvements.

I know this will not sound like a conservative talking(which I am one), but our Governor needs to lead a team to Washington to meet with our Elected officials and Lobby for Millions and Millions of Dollars to re-develop cities like Greenville, a former Port City and Jackson and a few other areas that can offer a viable work force.

And we need successful graduates of MSU and Ole Miss to invest capital on industries and tech jobs to come to Starkville and Oxford.

 

[PonderThis1]

I think the university has recognized that issue and has started offering in state tuition to out of staters if you have a certain GPA and ACT score. I have lived in Memphis for 20 years (I went to State during 4 of those) and I know I see A LOT more State stickers on cars than I did 10 years ago. The in state tuition certainly did not hurt when I was choosing a school either. I think going after Memphis was genius because I wasnt going to UT sixish hours away and I sure as 17 was not going to Ole Miss.

ETA: Dont hate on Memphis. The city has seen A TON of positive things happen in the past 10-15 years. It is definitely on the rise. It is on the list for top cities to which millennials are flocking. That is not a bad list to be on other than the fact that my generation (millennial) kind of sucks.

https://www.rhodes.edu/stories/memphis-among-top-cities-millennials

 

[fishwater99]

There are greater opportunities in other sates, we left this past summer to move to Colorado and I don't regret it one bit.
We miss friends and family and of course MSU sports but the quality of life here can't be beat.

 

[512taylor]

a glimmer of hope that he is going to try and move things forward. His dad saw the light to some degree that business/commerce and tax base drive a city forward and unite it. We have been concentrating on decisive issues and policies for too long and hopefully fatigue is setting in for all camps.

Two words.....
Kenneth Stokes

 

[512taylor]

I think the university has recognized that issue and has started offering in state tuition to out of staters if you have a certain GPA and ACT score. I have lived in Memphis for 20 years (I went to State during 4 of those) and I know I see A LOT more State stickers on cars than I did 10 years ago. The in state tuition certainly did not hurt when I was choosing a school either. I think going after Memphis was genius because I wasnt going to UT sixish hours away and I sure as 17 was not going to Ole Miss.

ETA: Dont hate on Memphis. The city has seen A TON of positive things happen in the past 10-15 years. It is definitely on the rise. It is on the list for top cities to which millennials are flocking. That is not a bad list to be on other than the fact that my generation (millennial) kind of sucks.

https://www.rhodes.edu/stories/memphis-among-top-cities-millennials

Memphis does have a lot going on. Take a look at the number of murders committed this year.

 

[LexSCDOG]

this quote is on the money....

a glimmer of hope, until I saw the stunt he pulled a few weekends ago, to grandstand and show his racism overrides his decision making.

You've got a city whose infrastructure is on par with Mogadishu, and the leader of the free world (who is pushing for major infrastructure upgrades throughout the NATION) is in town.

Perfect opportunity to talk and elicit Federal funds for said work, right?

Wrong.

Time for “powa to tha people!1” “he ain’t my prez!!1”

17ing racists morons suck.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Whether we like to admit it or not, there is a Racial component to this issue, and until there are real livable earnings jobs in the Mississippi Delta and in Jackson, there is no way for capital improvements.

I don't think anyone is afraid to admit it. It's as plain as daylight. The city leadership is more worried about "getting back at whitey" than bringing in businesses to prosper the economy.

 

[PonderThis1]

Memphis does have a lot going on. Take a look at the number of murders committed this year.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/nat..._5a789407-4d43-5403-ad56-7c47880bda8e.html#31

Jackson, NO, Birmingham are all ahead per capita.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

I love my quality of life in Rankin County, Mississippi. And I have season tickets to MSU Football! And I have a wife with a good job, and I am near retirement from a company I will have worked at for 30 years. And I have a nice home, two nice vehicles, and a dog in my back yard, and a loving Church family, I have the "Life of Riley", "Father knows Best", and "Leave it to Beaver" kind of life right here in po' ol' Missippi.

 

[5049]

Jackson sucks, but it is far from Mississippi’s only problem. The biggest problem is there are no other Jacksons besides Jackson. A state with as much landmass (pun definitely intended) as Mississippi can never thrive with just one metropolitan area amongst a sea of isolated shanty towns from one end of the state to the other. I mean, the absolute ceiling for Jackson is to become like a Huntsville, AL in its development, as it is a similar population comparison. And by “ceiling”, I mean pie-in-the-sky fantasy that will never happen. But even if it could happen, imagine if Huntsville was the only major metro area in all of Alabama. Alabama would be in the same boat as Mississippi.

Quite frankly, Mississippi is beyond saving in many respects. The only growing area of the state is suburban Memphis (which MS can’t really even take credit for). Meridian, Tupelo, Hattiesburg are all on the decline. The coast is treading water and just keeping up the status quo of the past 20 years in regards to its growth. No new major industry coming in anywhere. Agriculture continuing to decline as a viable individual career path and lifestyle. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to stop the bleeding.

Hattiesburg and the Coast are not declining. As a matter of fact, that will likely be where the majority of good things will happen for the state going forward. There, and like you said, Memphis. Possibly the 78 corridor.

If not for Katrina, the Coast would be booming.

 

[5049]

a glimmer of hope, until I saw the stunt he pulled a few weekends ago, to grandstand and show his racism overrides his decision making.

You've got a city whose infrastructure is on par with Mogadishu, and the leader of the free world (who is pushing for major infrastructure upgrades throughout the NATION) is in town.

Perfect opportunity to talk and elicit Federal funds for said work, right?

Wrong.

Time for “powa to tha people!1” “he ain’t my prez!!1”

17ing racists morons suck.

I was positive about Chockwe too but yeah after that, not anymore. I’ve resigned to accepting that Jackson will be Jackson, and will always have activity simply because state government is there, but it won’t thrive until something major happens.

 

[kired]

Meridian, Tupelo, Hattiesburg are all on the decline.

Have you been to the Tupelo area in the last 10 years? There's so many new businesses around this area that I can't keep up with them. Not sure what decline you're referring to. I moved here 11 years ago and I think the population has basically held steady - but its a totally different city than what I moved to.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Somebody should have forced the issue on that Interstate 69 corridor. That project is at least 15 years behind schedule. And it was supposed to create good paying jobs in the "Delta". I have been driving 65 to Little Rock for 10 years and right above Magehee, Ar. Sits a sign that says I 69 corridor with absolutely no dirt turned.

But road projects in Mississippi always get delayed. They started the West Rankin Parkway project connecting Pearson Road to Treetops Blvd over a year ago and now it is growing over again. That is supposed to open more development from Pearl to Flowood.

Infrastructure costs lots and lots of money.

I will say that I drive Louisiana and Arkansas roads and Mississippi is FAR ahead of those states in quality 4 lane roads and highways.

 

[5049]

Somebody should have forced the issue on that Interstate 69 corridor. That project is at least 15 years behind schedule. And it was supposed to create good paying jobs in the "Delta". I have been driving 65 to Little Rock for 10 years and right above Magehee, Ar. Sits a sign that says I 69 corridor with absolutely no dirt turned.

But road projects in Mississippi always get delayed. They started the West Rankin Parkway project connecting Pearson Road to Treetops Blvd over a year ago and now it is growing over again. That is supposed to open more development from Pearl to Flowood.

Infrastructure costs lots and lots of money.

I will say that I drive Louisiana and Arkansas roads and Mississippi is FAR ahead of those states in quality 4 lane roads and highways.

I was about to say, MDOT is AHEAD of most other states. If projects are delayed, it’s not a MS thing.

Be careful when you criticize.

 

[Walter White.sixpack]

We need to take a page out of Texas's playbook and pay smart, successful people from other states to move here.

Uh, with what money?

 

[Dan Dority]

Nm

 

[aTotal360]

Embrace the lottery would be a decent start. It's such a benign thing that generates oodles of cash. Maybe the casino lobbyist would push back against it, but I think it's a no brainer.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

Memphis does have a lot going on. Take a look at the number of murders committed this year.

Trash Memphis all you want but Memphis and Mississippi are more alike than most people think. They are both suffering from the collapse of public education and the collapse of the black American family.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

I was about to say, MDOT is AHEAD of most other states. If projects are delayed, it’s not a MS thing.

Be careful when you criticize.

Not criticizing. But in no way is I 69 "ahead" of schedule. Unless I missed where they said we should have the project done by 2055.

This project needs to get rolling through the Delta and very soon!

 

[5049]

Have you been to the Tupelo area in the last 10 years? There's so many new businesses around this area that I can't keep up with them. Not sure what decline you're referring to. I moved here 11 years ago and I think the population has basically held steady - but its a totally different city than what I moved to.

This is why I doubt the census. In a town like Tupelo, you don't add businesses if there isn't at least a small growth in population. I understand a big metro area, which could just be shuffling its population. As a matter of fact, I know for fact that a small town in Alabama is growing like wildfire, but the census deemed they were losing. When asked for the reason, the feds say they do not actually poll many rural areas, instead they take nationwide trends. Which is understandable for the country as a whole, but can be misleading in smaller, rural states.

I get that people from smaller towns are probably coming to Tupelo to shop/eat, but there still has to be an added component to see the growth it has seen. If you look at census.gov, it shows a decrease for the state, but NA for Tupelo alone. They didn't even attempt to poll it.

 

[PonderThis1]

Not criticizing. But in no way is I 69 "ahead" of schedule. Unless I missed where they said we should have the project done by 2055.

This project needs to get rolling through the Delta and very soon!

They are getting very close. I believe it is open all the way to Byhalia. It should shave about 10 minutes off of my trips to Starkville next fall.