Writing in the Wall Street Journal last week, native Kansan Thomas Frank isn't too complimentary on the state of affairs:
...you will find that small-town America, this legendary place of honesty and sincerity and dignity, is not doing very well. If you drive west from Kansas City, Mo., you will find towns where Main Street is largely boarded up. You will see closed schools and hospitals. You will hear about depleted groundwater and massive depopulation. read more »