True or False? There Are Places in Idaho That Are Worse to Live Than in Pocatello

Most of us are proud of where we came from, even if it does resemble an episode of Green Acres.  It came to mind as I recently wrote after a fellow wrote me an angry letter because I told Pocatello jokes on-air.  To paraphrase a line from an old stage show, dying in Pocatello is redundant.

But are there worse places?  It depends on how you define worse.

A couple of years ago I visited an old ghost town in Nevada, which is inhabited by many among the living.  They like the place because they’re mostly left alone.  You can see traffic coming (what little there is) from the main highway miles away.  Visitors don’t often stay long, because the outsiders probably have visions of scenes from the movie Deliverance.  A buddy I used to work with had a dad who played a character in that film and was told to squeal like a pig.  When my coworker would come into the studio, I would play Dueling Banjos.

[/caption]A handful of places in Idaho come to mind as places that time has left behind.  King Hill is a good example: a few old buildings and scattered houses in a town that was once very busy.  Downtown Murtaugh, Santa, and Richfield come to mind.  The latter posts a picture of better times on the web—or at least busier times.

Honestly, I would take most of these places over Pocatello.  Again, there’s privacy and most are probably safer.

I’m not saying Pocatello is the pits, but if we started sentencing criminals to live there, you would see the meaning of deterrence at work.

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