We spent three weeks driving to the midwest and back, looking at colleges and taking Colleen to her knitting camp. I suppose a good blogger would have written while enroute, but I saved it up instead...
You can learn a lot from the billboards. You discover political "zones" that way--where is abortion more under attack than at home, for example. You also discover where commerce (or at least the billboard industry) is depressed--many many signs with different versions of "This sign for rent."
And then there are the fireworks stores (and to a lesser extent, the "adult" stores). The weirdest part was coming into Michigan from Ohio. Fireworks are legal in both states--but in Michigan, the fireworks stores are clustered close to the border. Makes very little sense to me. More generally, the sheer number of "the worlds largest fireworks stores" seemed a bit over the top. And I guess there isn't much to do in the wide open spaces of flatland besides set off fireworks, buy porn, and go to strip clubs--drive for miles and miles and come across nothing but farms and those things...
Then there's occasional oddities--why is it, for example, that there are a LOT of wind turbines in northern Iowa, but none anywhere else? Why was the price of unleaded regular higher than midgrade in eastern Iowa? Why are all my questions about Iowa?
I also noticed a peculiar trend in college tours. Most colleges, including those with gorgeous campuses, give tours to prospective students that involve going around the outer edge of the campus, from building to building. This may be efficient, but it doesn't do a very good job of letting people see what the campus looks and feels like to a student. If you have a college campus where the beauty of the physical space is a selling point, consider adjusting your tour route...
You can learn a lot from the billboards. You discover political "zones" that way--where is abortion more under attack than at home, for example. You also discover where commerce (or at least the billboard industry) is depressed--many many signs with different versions of "This sign for rent."
And then there are the fireworks stores (and to a lesser extent, the "adult" stores). The weirdest part was coming into Michigan from Ohio. Fireworks are legal in both states--but in Michigan, the fireworks stores are clustered close to the border. Makes very little sense to me. More generally, the sheer number of "the worlds largest fireworks stores" seemed a bit over the top. And I guess there isn't much to do in the wide open spaces of flatland besides set off fireworks, buy porn, and go to strip clubs--drive for miles and miles and come across nothing but farms and those things...
Then there's occasional oddities--why is it, for example, that there are a LOT of wind turbines in northern Iowa, but none anywhere else? Why was the price of unleaded regular higher than midgrade in eastern Iowa? Why are all my questions about Iowa?
I also noticed a peculiar trend in college tours. Most colleges, including those with gorgeous campuses, give tours to prospective students that involve going around the outer edge of the campus, from building to building. This may be efficient, but it doesn't do a very good job of letting people see what the campus looks and feels like to a student. If you have a college campus where the beauty of the physical space is a selling point, consider adjusting your tour route...
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