Posted by Donald on October 04, 2004 at 07:34:18 (PST):
In Reply to: Re: Kittanning posted by Snackdaddy on October 03, 2004 at 17:36:38 (PST):
: Here is something I posted on another board awhile back that may answer some questions. As for the Sniders, logic asks why would they stop growth if the own most everything? The more population there is, the greater the demand for goods and services. More demand means more businesses to serve them. Business owners that amass the holdings you say the Sniders have do not, as a habit, shoot themselves in the financial foot. So anyhow, 'way back when, the main product of the area was coal, and railroads were king. As the mines petered out, and highways replaced railroads, Kittanning was not a convenient place to ship to/from. The roads were mostly all curvy, hilly, and two lanes. Imagine, if you will, the drive east on Rt. 422 towards Elderton, where you prayed you didn't get behind a coal truck that went 80 mph down hill and 15 mph up the next. Places south of Kittanning (Pittsburgh) were more accessible for highway shipments. Eljer and PPG provided a great deal of employment for years, as did Linde Oxygen plant, which at the time it was built was the largest oxygen producing plant in the world. As time wore on, Union Carbide (Linde) built bigger and better plants elsewhere. The Kittanning plant was converted to an experimental station and produced some of the more esoteric gases (neon, argon, xenon), but this did not require the hundreds of employees it once did. One can only assume the company got a better offer or felt other regions had more available manpower, etc. PPG wanted to refit the Ford City plant with a new process that would make glass smoother, faster and less expensive to manufacture, but the union (Note to Carl: I hope this forum is fireproof cause this next comment will tick off some people) in all its magnificent wisdom, protested the new technology to save workers' jobs. So, PPG built the plant in Meadville, where a number of Kittanningites and Ford Citians and relocated. What is left in Ford City? Nothing much.
: There are other sociological reasons surrounding the demise of the old place, but it really boils down to that which afflicts hundreds of small towns across the country: Manufacturers build plants. Plants become technologically obsolete. Manufacturer builds new plant somewhere else where weather is nicer, labor is cheaper, politicians give it gigantic tax break (that used to be the Southern US. Now it's Mexico). Out of work with no prospect of employment, people leave for new jobs somewhere else. Young people and folks with families to support leave and what is left are retirees, chronically unemployed, and a few people to run the infrastructure. After all, even retired folks have to eat/buy gas/seek medical care, etc. Population shrinks. Retailers close due to lack of business. No new ones open up for the same reason. Wal Mart comes to town and sells stuff at 20%-35% below what Mom and Pop can buy the merchandise, so they close too, because the people who are left shop at Wal Mart because they only have so many dollars to go around, and want as much bang for their buck as they can get. Customer loyalty, friendly sales and service, personalized attention of the Mom and Pop? Almost no one cares about that anymore. Price is the one and only motivator.
: That, in a nutshell, is the story of many Western PA communities, not just Kittanning.
Yes, there is the trouble. This one word known as technology. People tend to shy from it. It is the demise of small town America. The second problem is Wal-Mart. Have you ever read anywhere how they literally destroy small town America? I believe somewhere in the neighborhood of 99.2% of each small town they open up in goes from hero to zero in 5 years. Meaning all the Mom & Pops die and downtown is no more. The sad thing is there's a way to correct this mess. And do not blame it on the Snyders as Snackdaddy just hit the nail on the head with his post. We have to open our minds, band together, gather information, as a community fight, as one group willing to change the demise. The right person can use their voice, the right person can use their power, and money will flow like a river. Maybe we should follow the trail Scranton,PA. did. They were near Kittanning demise when someone changed the road they were on.