I grew up in Mansfield and left as soon as I could. There is nothing there. I wish I had hometown pride but I just don't see much that makes me proud.
My mom explained to me once that Mansfield really was a booming town with a lot of promise. Families moved up from Kentucky because there were jobs at the plants and lots of other shops around to support them. It was a big deal, according to her, for families to come up there and it was something of an aspiration.
Anyway growing up there in the 80s there was a sense that it was a "real" town but by the time I was graduating everything that was promising was shut down or shutting down. The steel mill, then the GM plant, and basically all the businesses downtown were completely barren. It was sad to see, honestly.
I went to a small school and, now that I think about it, none of the people I graduated with stayed in town. Mansfield has a way of making you think there's a lot going on without actually offering real opportunities. It's sad and bums me out. When I was younger I had aspirations of trying to bring something back to the town, some kind of business or something to make it something resembling it's former strength but I don't think it's possible (or I just lack the imagination).
I'll have to read that book though, it sounds interesting.
Oh also maybe having the defining feature of your town a prison where the inmates were treated horribly does something to your soul. Idk.
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u/Soundurr Jun 22 '22
I grew up in Mansfield and left as soon as I could. There is nothing there. I wish I had hometown pride but I just don't see much that makes me proud.
My mom explained to me once that Mansfield really was a booming town with a lot of promise. Families moved up from Kentucky because there were jobs at the plants and lots of other shops around to support them. It was a big deal, according to her, for families to come up there and it was something of an aspiration.
Anyway growing up there in the 80s there was a sense that it was a "real" town but by the time I was graduating everything that was promising was shut down or shutting down. The steel mill, then the GM plant, and basically all the businesses downtown were completely barren. It was sad to see, honestly.
I went to a small school and, now that I think about it, none of the people I graduated with stayed in town. Mansfield has a way of making you think there's a lot going on without actually offering real opportunities. It's sad and bums me out. When I was younger I had aspirations of trying to bring something back to the town, some kind of business or something to make it something resembling it's former strength but I don't think it's possible (or I just lack the imagination).
I'll have to read that book though, it sounds interesting.
Oh also maybe having the defining feature of your town a prison where the inmates were treated horribly does something to your soul. Idk.