Seven Reasons I
like Marion,
Indiana
I just returned to Marion after a summer of wandering in
Colorado, Wyoming, Hawaii, and the East coast.
I’m glad to be back. Really!
Last year a colleague from another college said, “How can
you stand living in that dump of a town?” People from cooler places can’t
imagine I would like living in Marion,
Indiana. After all, even The Wesleyan Church headquarters felt the need to flee
this town. So why do I like Marion? Here’s why?
1. I can drive
anywhere in town in 6 minutes.
I gained six hours a week moving here from Indianapolis and
“time is life.” This town is large
enough to have almost everything I need but small enough to get to it in six
minutes. I hardly plan “travel time” any more—I ride my bike to work about 2
minutes before class starts and I leave for worship one minutes “early.” The
lifestyle advantage of eliminating travel time out of my life is wonderful! OK, here is a concrete example: I fill up the
gas tank of my Suburban about twice a school year (plus once in summer). Really!
2. I can get everything
I need.
If I need a piece of steel cut exactly 3 1/2" X
6" I can get it in Marion cut exactly for me for about ten dollars (In one larger city where I lived
I could get it but had to pay a minimum charge of $50). Not that I ever
actually buy cut-to-order steel but the point is Marion is small enough town
making it easy to get around in yet large enough to have just about everything I
need.. Yes, we only have one Home Depot or Lowes and we
only have two Starbucks, but all I ever need of any of these is one store at a
time. Sure, sometimes I “need” an Outback steak—and I can’t get that without
driving 65 minutes to Indianapolis…so I just do that when I need a steak.
3. Marion church
life is grand.
All small towns don’t have such great church life but this
one does. While 80% of the people in my county skip church on any given Sunday the
small town church life is incredible. We have church plants, small churches,
gigantic churches and a church or more from every denomination except Eastern
Orthodox. In some cases (like my own denomination) we have several dozen choices.
I'd drive two hours to hear Steve DeNeff
preach—he’s one of the best ten preachers in America. Yet he preaches every
Sunday two minutes from my home—or only one minute if there isn’t snow
.
4. Marion is
great for raising a family.
My family is already raised but if I were raising kids I’d
choose a small town like this one. Every person I know who has kids in Marion thinks
this is best for their kids. We still a small town but even here we have a half
dozen school districts to choose from and even several Christian schools.
5. Housing is
cheap.
I know people who sold their nice home in Indianapolis and
bought 15 homes here—they live in one and rent out the rest building up equity
for their retirement. I’m not making this up. My own school, Indiana Wesleyan University
pays fairly high on the comparison scale with other Christian colleges—I think
we’re working for 85th percentile now. But what isn’t noticed is
that those 15% above us are located in cities where “starter houses” or “fixer
uppers” can cost $250,000. If you spend $250,000 to buy a house in Marion you
will be living in the top 2% of the population—you’ll be the “rich one.” This makes salaries go a long way. There is
more money to buy steaks or travel to other cool places for vacation.
6. There are lots
of needy people in Marion.
Marion is a city trying to recover from the industrial bust.
We have a lot of poor people, blue collar workers who are laid off and minorities.
People who insist on "kewl city life" where
they never see poverty, never mix with people of other races or don’t have to
see old houses in need of repair wouldn’t like Marion. People who insist on an exciting night life with
exhilarating great places to eat while
claiming they care for the poor might not like Marion—here you see the poor. And Marion is small enough
that even a thousand Christians can make a big difference. We are not a town
for people who want their needy people over in Africa or Haiti to visit on a
missions trip once every few years while they themselves get to live in the
suburbs. But Marion a great city to actually help needy people. Russ Gunsalus calls it "A ministry-rich
environment" when we’re interviewing new faculty members. Candidates who are more interested in kewl places than ministry aren’t a good mission fit for us—we
simply pass over them and seek people who really are willing to see poverty on
their way to work and be willing to work at helping.
7. IWU is the big
plus.
I admit that all small towns don’t have an IWU. Marion
does. A town may be deteriorating like many small towns in America, but the campus
of IWU is booming and packed with brand new buildings and bright faces. It
creates an upward lift that raises the tide for the whole town. The town has a
philharmonic orchestra, but IWU offers a bunch of cultural life too. One guy we
interviewed put it this way: “If I had used a helicopter and flew my wife in
and landed on the campus she would have had no qualms about this town…it was
driving by the dilapidated houses that turned her off. Well, we try not hire people
who will spend their whole life in the campus “suburbs.” But one could.
I admit this town is no more perfect than the Wesleyans or Nazarenes,
or Baptists are perfect. But I like Marion and I’m glad to be back in
this town I call home!
So, what do you think? Click here to comment or see other comments on this article.
Keith Drury; September 4, 2007 www.TuesdayColumn.com