Sunspring Hills – Wooddijan F

Ambassador: Emily Palsa.3
Rachael Birri
Zack Boutwell
Jonathan Herrick
Emily Palsa
Eric Vermillion

       Sunspring Hills has always been a place for those looking for a quiet place, a connection to the land, and people who need something to do with their hands. A community of close-knit farmers developed and founded Sunspring Hills, bonding over their equal ability to identify a birch from its leaf and a variety of corn from its kernel. Most of the residents built their own homes, started their own farms, and traded goods with each other. Every year they would have a Sunflower festival within the town, where the mayor, Jane Deere, would choose the winner of the biggest sunflower contest and the town held a collective hunt. People would buy and sell handmade goods, but mainly they gathered, sang, and ate food together.
       Far away from any major river, the town was spared many burdens of urban sprawl. However, as the population of Wooddijan rose, so did the demand for food and the pressure to produce food for the nation fell on the shoulders of the farmers of Sunspring Hills. Forests were cleared to make way for monocrop and aquifers began to drain. Food, holding the nutrients and water of the land, was shipped out. The town developed a haze as precious topsoil became dust. What was once subsistence farming supplemented by trade became a means of survival, monetizing every component.
       Farmers fell victim to “improving” technologies developed in big city offices with higher price tags. The number of people farming began to decrease as only the largest of the farms could afford the newest, most efficient technologies, driving up investment costs and down crop prices. Those who tried to expand too quickly accumulated debt and were quickly bought out by the larger farms, further concentrating land and wealth within the community. This paradigm is seen in the divide between the smaller shop owners, forced to
cede their land and those with ever-growing fields. The Sunflower festival stopped occurring due to lack of investment. Many of those who lost their farm moved away, keeping a low population, and those who stayed worked in real estate, small-scale clinics,
and groceries.
       These shop owners opened a community center for their kids in absence of a daycare. The staff and programming of the center more so reflected the parents’ culture than the kids. However, the volunteer and charity work held by the center garnered respect from everyone in the community, allowing those who coordinated it political and social influence. The settlers’ kids who had fond memories of running through forests grew up and raised kids who didn’t have the luxury of vast forests and didn’t have the same virtual access as kids in other cities. The school felt isolated due to lack of adequate wifi. Without the ability to globally connect, the youth began to feel isolated and trapped by the small number of job opportunities and the same faces. Furthermore, while the older generation liked the limited access to the outside world–city-slickers couldn’t get in–young people lacked places to explore outside of corn mazes and grew quickly weary of flat fields of corn. Federal grants were hard to come by. The people of Sunspring Hills pride themselves on their self-sufficiency, helping each other first. This attitude of isolationism is reflected in their national political ties, often failing to fully utilize the wealth of the nation due to their drive for autonomy, a harder identity to uphold as their reliance on exports grows.

Community F: This remote, rural community is located in one of the most agriculturally productive areas of the nation.

Population size = 12,000 residents. 

Natural: 5 The soils and climate in this community are excellent for agriculture. The community has not been able to conserve much of the pre-existing forest and water resources that once existed in the community and have reduced their overall natural amenities due to heavily-investing in agriculture.

Cultural: 5 While traditionally the community had a strong identity and sense of community pride, youth in the community are beginning to question their rural place in the nation. The community’s symbols (e.g. school mascots) reflect its strong ties to agriculture. Older residents take pride in being hard-working, independent and self-sufficient.

Human: 4 Residents generally are knowledgeable in agriculture, but there is limited workforce training or higher education (college) opportunities in the community. There are limited job opportunities outside of agriculture, health care or in the local and small-scale financial, insurance, and real estate sectors.

Social: 7 Very strong bonding capital among farmers and certain residents who own downtown business, although certain families and neighborhoods lack strong social cohesion. There are a few individuals who bridge across different social groups and have strong connections with volunteers associations.

Political: 6 There exists trusted local leadership in the community, but these elected and administrative officials have few connections to the national government. Local property taxes are low and levies to support the local school system are generally supported.

Financial: 3 Financial resources exist for those with ownership of large portions of farmland and agricultural equipment, as well as some who own other local businesses. There is limited outside investment in the community and the local community foundation has a consistently small budget.

Built: 4 K-12 public school systems facilities are modern, but are lacking adequate telecommunication systems and internet connectivity. Local roads are expensive to maintain and the community is located far from a major highway system.