I feel like I am witnessing my small little town become big

[JohnKleeb]

Despite living in an almost city like atmosphere, Ive always believed I've lived in a small town at heart, after all, people do offer rides when you're cold and late as was my case this past week. Then there's a student murdered last year. Then an ambush of two former students, one of whom dies and now this, a graduate of the high school and aquaintance of mine is missing and feared dead. Just scary because violent crime has never been a problem here.

[SmileyBoy]

1. Feels like it in my town too.

I was originally born here and lived here until I was in the 3rd grade, and back in those days, the biggest local news was an apartment fire, or maybe the occasional wife-beating. We probably only averaged one murder per year.

Nowadays, it seems like every week a store is being robbed, carjackings are almost a weekly occurrence, and a couple days ago, a kid in the suburbs was reported to have been stabbed half to death while walking home from school. Meth is RAMPANT here, and I mean RAMPANT. We're getting 3-5 murders per year now. It's like I don't even recognize this city anymore. Hell, I don't recognize half of it anyway (sprawl that occurred when I was gone), and the social climate seems to have changed.

I guess it's what a town has to go through in the transition process to become a city.

[JohnKleeb]

2. Yeah

Damn, yep we've been getting all sorts of crime. Christ, tellin ya behind every rich and prosperous town, there is trouble. All this shit, that murder last year, the murder recently, and now this girl and course knowing a good amount of people who are addicted to shit.

[Rowdyboy]

3. A Nissan plant employing 4000 people opened in my town of 15,000

two years ago and we have seen phenomenal growth. Its exciting in some ways but I hate to see the rural beauty disappear.

[SmileyBoy]

4. Do you happen to live in Canton???

The reason I ask is because I actually went through there on my way to New Orleans about a month ago. There's that huge Nissan plant on I-55, right?? And there's a water tower that has a welcoming for Nissan painted on it??

My group ate at Arby's there.:)

[Rowdyboy]

6. Absolutely! Its also the town where the Coen's filmed "O'Brother, Where..

Art Thou?". Several other movies were filmed in Canton ("A Time to Kill", "My Dog Skip", "Thieves Like Us" and "The Ponder Heart").

There's a town square with many 1890's era restored buildings and a magnificent 1852 courthouse in the center.

Sad to say, it the most poorly landscaped major auto plant in America. It just a long white building with dead Bradford pears in front. Most auto plants are beautifully done but ours sucks...However, since it brings 4 thousand well-paying jobs and property values have doubled, I can live with inferior landscaping!

[JohnKleeb]

5. My town is home to about 24,000

We still are a small town at heart though, a lot of people know people, people have offered me a ride when I am in the school's neighborhood, etc but there's so much shadow to it all.