The biggest problem with Tupelo is that it can’t grow physically. It’s blocked in almost every direction by small towns or municipalities. It’s beginning to grow west towards Pontotoc but even that’s limited. the decline of furniture killed Tupelo and surrounding areas. The close proximity of all these small towns around Tupelo have drained the town of the middle class taxpayers. All these little towns are competing against each other and Tupelo for development whereas the Golden Triangle is unified as one.
Yeah. It's a viscous circle, but the Tupelo problem is really emblematic of a bigger"Mississippi Problem" and I think it can only be solved by great jobs.
A friend of mine's wife from Dallas just took a job for an international company and had to go to Jackson for training for a few weeks. She's a Notre Dame grad and had a very particular opinion of what Mississippi is in her mind.
When she got the job, I suggested they could be happy there if she need to move to Jackson. He's in sales and flies all over the country. They could sell their current house and buy something similar outright in the Jackson burbs, with cash left over. She initially snarled at the idea.
A week after she returned, they are seriously considering it. The perception is hard to overcome, but the reality is not. If someone can put a bunch of white collar jobs on the ground in the Golden Triangle, it would change the game. People would absolutely move there to climb a rung of the corporate ladder and many would stick due to the open spaces and relaxing pace of life. Not very many people would move for another factory job, those careers are for locals.
The GTR-DFW flight is a little tiny step in the right direction. Lots of big companies are HQ'd in DFW and points west. I'll build and come visit a major office on a direct flight or maybe 1 connection on the way to your town. No way am I doubling back costing myself 2-3 hours to connect in Atlanta.
