Living The Life In Indiana

 Sunday morning in Muncie, I stepped out for a smoke and saw a cottontail rabbit traversing the grass strip behind the neighboring bank, starlings picking their way through the same grass. Little traffic driving along Broadway, a quietness laying over the neighborhood behind me.

The email brought a link to Indiana included on list of ‘America’s 10 worst states to live and work in’ .

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana was included on a list of “America’s 10 worst states to live and work in.”

Indiana was named the 7th worst state to live in and work in on CNBC’s annual list. The article added “With fewer than 10 licensed childcare facilities per 100,000 residents, the Hoosier State is making it hard for some families to fully participate in the workforce. It is the second-worst figure in the nation (behind Louisiana), according to the advocacy group Child Care Aware. Protections against discrimination under state law are limited as well.”

Qualifiers for the list include life factors (such as crimes rates, environmental quality, and health care), inclusiveness, voting rights, reproductive rights, protections against discrimination, and the quality and availability of childcare.

Indiana was given a life, health, and inclusion score of 113 out of 350 points by CNBC, which is the equivalent of a D- on their scale. Indiana made the 8th spot on the 2022 list, and was given 102 out of 325 points, which is the equivalent of an F.

Indiana’s crime rate was listed as a strength. Childcare and inclusiveness were listed as weaknesses. Inclusiveness was included as a weakness for Indiana on the 2022 list and the 2023 list.

Florida, Arkansas, and Tennessee were listed as “better” states at 10th, 9th, and 8th, respectively. The states listed as “worse” than Indiana were Missouri at 6th, Alabama & South Carolina tied for 4th, Louisiana at 3rd, Oklahoma at 2nd, and Texas in the number one spot.

 This was yesterday's weather warning:

 Air Quality Alert issued July 15 at 12:​14​PM EDT by NWS Indianapolis
...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT EDT MONDAY NIGHT...
The officials at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have declared an Air Action Quality Day, in effect from midnight tonight to midnight EDT Monday night.
An Air Quality Action Day for PM 2.5 has been issued. Fine particulate levels are expected to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range. Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor exposure.
Here are some recommended actions that the public can take: * Walk, bike, carpool or use public transportation.
* Avoid using the drive-through and combine errands into one trip.
* Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gasoline-powered lawn equipment until after 7pm.
* Turn off your engine when idling for more than 30 seconds.
* Conserve energy by turning off lights or setting the air conditioner to 75 degrees or above.
For additional information, please visit the IDEM Smog page at: https://apps.idem.in.gov/smogwatch 

This has been the main weather warning this year. 

This also came in yesterday's email: My wife and I left Los Angeles for Indiana. Our rent was cut in half, we enjoy a better quality of life, and I'm part of a vibrant tech ecosystem.:

In December 2022, I relocated from the perpetual dynamism of the Los Angeles tech scene to the tranquil serenity of Zionsville, Indiana.

I collaborate with hard-tech and climate-tech entrepreneurs in my current role and I'm committed to fostering innovation in Indiana's burgeoning Hard Tech alley while enjoying the serene backdrop of my new home.

Well, yeah, you move to Zionsville from Santa Monica, and life will be less expensive, more digestible.

What about those who lack the education to participate in high-tech? How do they find living in Indiana?

It may well be my opinion that those who have lived their lives in Indian, who have no comparison to be made to their lives, are so inured to the idea that the way they are living is the only way to live will prove to be reality. I work now with a fellow who moved up here from Miami, he is in his fifties, he said something about having heard that Muncie was once quite the town.

Our General Assembly moved quickly to ban abortion, but what does it say to working families, working mothers, when childcare is so underdeveloped? Could it be that the message will be have kids, but do not work; have kids and stay poor? 

Is it that the anemic political participation rate in this state is due to a feeling that no one believe politics can, will, improve their lives rather than a belief that they are living the good life?

Thinking on this last night, I remembered a song I heard on WXPN while in prison. I did not know there was such a song - I doubt the programmers at our Indianapolis rock stations know it exists, or would allow it to be played. From The Bottle Rockets and 1997:

 

Something more local, far older, but any different?

As for myself, I came back to wind up things, finish business, which leaves me both here and without any stake in the future.

sch 7/16