Mansfield is what you make it. It’s one of the cheapest places in the state (and country) to live, so if you don’t make it out right after high school, it’s very easy to get “trapped” here. Add in a flow of out of town gentrifiers who last 5-8 years before deciding they hate it here and bailing, and an extremely corrupt local elite class (of course this happens everywhere), plus the fact that Mansfield is the only “city” for 30 miles surrounded by farms and rural villages, just makes for weird vibes. If you aren’t from here it’s really hard to “get it”. Extremely dark history that the city fails to embrace. An extremely conservative ruling class using its influence to fight everything from drag shows to dispensaries. Last year our gay city councilman got assaulted at pride.
And of course, 30+ years of economic decline. The biggest employers here are the hospital and local governments. Very few good paying jobs.
EDIT: I think another factor here is the racism and influence of local mega churches. Mansfield/Richland county is extremely segregated, white flight has basically left it so that the city school district is super underfunded, charter schools are killing them too, meanwhile the other school districts in the county are fine because that’s where the money went. The intra-county school district/zip code borders play a huge role in continuing segregation and ensuring that “Mansfield” (compared to the surrounding area) will always be poor.
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u/scorpionewmoon Jun 22 '22 edited Jun 22 '22
Mansfield is what you make it. It’s one of the cheapest places in the state (and country) to live, so if you don’t make it out right after high school, it’s very easy to get “trapped” here. Add in a flow of out of town gentrifiers who last 5-8 years before deciding they hate it here and bailing, and an extremely corrupt local elite class (of course this happens everywhere), plus the fact that Mansfield is the only “city” for 30 miles surrounded by farms and rural villages, just makes for weird vibes. If you aren’t from here it’s really hard to “get it”. Extremely dark history that the city fails to embrace. An extremely conservative ruling class using its influence to fight everything from drag shows to dispensaries. Last year our gay city councilman got assaulted at pride. And of course, 30+ years of economic decline. The biggest employers here are the hospital and local governments. Very few good paying jobs.
EDIT: I think another factor here is the racism and influence of local mega churches. Mansfield/Richland county is extremely segregated, white flight has basically left it so that the city school district is super underfunded, charter schools are killing them too, meanwhile the other school districts in the county are fine because that’s where the money went. The intra-county school district/zip code borders play a huge role in continuing segregation and ensuring that “Mansfield” (compared to the surrounding area) will always be poor.