Them's Organic Quinoas, Mister (2024)

Some of it is city people who moved in from California -- see what I wrote last year:

https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/to-the-stars-through-difficulties

Jun 18

I go with the latter theory, some kind of swampy money.. it happened in my small town of Half Moon Bay... we turned from an isolated farming community, to ... all of the above and more.. I feel like running for council just to peek behind the curtain.

Jun 18Liked by Chris Bray

I live in a small town in rural Pennsylvania. We don’t have the fancy bars. Basically we have the wannabe high end restaurants for a drink, but they close at nine or ten. Then we have the dive bars that close at 2. My favorite dive bar is in a restored saloon. To this day it is still called a saloon and it is cash only. It really does have a vintage feel to it, that is why I like it so much. The two people that own it are one millennial co owner of a mom and pop grocery store and the other millennial looks like a biker chick, very nice people. Most people are afraid to talk to those covered in tattoos, but I have learned not to judge people too quickly

We also have coffee shops. The first one in our town was created by an antique shop owner, who hated traveling 30 miles for a good cup of coffee. Before he sold it to another couple, he remodeled and restored his antique store into a vintage 1950s soda shop, but it was a coffee shop instead with real penny candy in it as well. He was a Gen X guy. The one in Ridgway was started by a couple I know, who also restored a former clothing store and it has evolved into an informal meeting place. We have a bakery in a restored, vintage department store, a French breakfast place in a restored 1930s home. All of these places use repurposed furniture and they source their food locally. My favorite place in Ridgway is the restored bank that was turned into a brewery/restaurant/hotel. That was also started by a Gen X. All of these owners are locals.

So your experience in my part of the country would be a little different.

It’s close enough to Tulsa that it can feed off the spillover. I see that where my mom lives in the sticks ( pop. 16k) - the big college 40 minutes away has enough big events that people going there have to get a reasonably priced room at a holiday inn that far away. So there’s enough demand about 15-20 weekends a year that can keep a few restaurants brewpubs and coffee shops going year round. It’s also just close enough that some local kids can drive to that college a couple times a week as part-time students and live with their parents to avoid the room and board - they work at the small town shops. The brewpub in town is owned by one of the farmers’ family members. The nearby hospital also attracts doctors, nurses, etc. from a 40-mile radius, there’s a few banks in town, lawyers, accountants… so a town twice the size like Bartlesville can support that kind of stuff easily on 1% of the population.

This is what's happening in our smallish town. To the T. I don't know about funding but definitely coming in with big cash. Definitely a subversive push to turn the state blue, which I believe is organized and non random. Jury's out on of the two are related though.

Jun 18

a good guess.