Urban vs. Rural communities
...greater understanding of one another. This may be sometimes hard to discover in an urban setting. Another social paradigm is the amount of resources found in one location compared to another. Small population equals a limited amount of resources. Competition rarely exists between businesses and you may only have one choice as a consumer. Your local grocery store may be your only option. A larger population, however, equals a vast amount of resources. Competition exists between businesses and you, as a consumer, have more choices and an overall greater opportunity to find better products and or services. Another social difference is in the school system. Children in a rural setting have a great advantage over children in the urban setting. Although rural students may not have as many choices in the school they attend, they do have a greater financial backing when it comes to education spending. The growing number in urban poverty is depleting the amount of funding they receive for school. This poverty is leading to less spending on education and more spending on providing economic support for the patrons in an urban setting. People in poverty are paying less in taxes (because of income made) but still demanding the same education benefits as that of a rural setting. These demands are not being met. According to James G. Ward, “Poverty is growing, particularly among children, and public school students are becoming poorer as a result. In 1978, 18 percent of American children under age six came from families in poverty, but by 1990 this figure had increased to 25 percent and continues to grow”(1). Another difference between the urban and rural setting is the economic aspect. The economic aspect I am talking about is the availability of jobs and jobs themselves. Within a small town the availability of a particular career field may be very limited. For example, if you grew up in a small textile community, the odds of you finding a career in microbiology are slim to none. In the larger city, opportunity for employment becomes more abundant (based on occupation). It is obvious that more jobs would be found in a larger domestic environment; the question then becomes, is it the job you are looking for? Also, how much you get paid for your specific occupation varies between which setting you live in as well. This is also something to consider when choosing your locale. Take the occupation of education for example. According to a study by the The Rural School and Community Trust, the average salary in rural districts is 13.4% lower than in non-rural areas. For experienced teachers (those with masters' degrees plus 20 years), rural teachers are paid 17.2% less than their non-rural peers. Nationwide, beginning rural teachers earn 11.3% less than teachers in non-rural districts ( Jimerson 2). Although urban and rural pay varies with occupation, it is certainly something important to consider and analyze when choosing where to live. The last aspect to consider is the moral differences between small town and large city living. In the small town, the morals are usually communicated evenly betwe...