tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post6389371885788169261..comments2024-03-28T02:29:13.507-07:00Comments on Legal Ruralism: Nostalgia, economics, and spatiality in reporting on post office closuresLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-25153905075377300402011-10-18T14:06:08.318-07:002011-10-18T14:06:08.318-07:00The following article shows the flight of the rura...The following article shows the flight of the rural community of Emery, Utah who is about to lost their post office - http://www.ecprogress.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=11591<br /><br />They indicated that the post office makes most of its revenue from first class mail and "[e]very time [they] lose one piece of first class mail ... [they] have to generate five new pieces of advertising mail to offset that cost." <br /><br />Post offices such as this received a questionnaires this summer, which not only explained the current legal and business process as well as gathered information. <br /><br />The article seemed to intimate that Emery will likely lose their post office. But some of their solutions for towns like Emery are the following:<br /><br />1. Discontinue retail services (minimum negative impact)<br />2. Take the box in the town and put it in another town 14 miles away (approx. 30 miles roundtrip) - - (benefit is that the only thing that changes is the location)<br />3. Set up a village post office in either a business in the community or one of the community services. That community service could apply for a village post office. <br />4. Street delivery in a group of cluster boxes installed in a location most convenience for the community. <br /><br />An interesting quote in the article is that "closing Post Offices on Saturday you would save $2 billion, whereas if you close 3,652 Post Offices you save 26 million." If that is true, it seems that completely closing rural post offices is not only cruel to those communities but also not necessarily the best economic option.Patricijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07301065108893875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-55035332235889292812011-10-13T13:59:23.967-07:002011-10-13T13:59:23.967-07:00My wife's paternal grandparents summer in Pitk...My wife's paternal grandparents summer in Pitkin, Colorado, population 127. They support the local post office by paying for a box, even though they only spend three months of the year there. They also make weekly trips into Gunnison to do their laundry, pick up groceries and a newspaper. It's a 27 mile trip, but I'd say most, if not all, Pitkin residents make it on a fairly routine basis. It's certainly nice to be able to check your mail every day, but it seems like Pitkin residents would make do with getting their mail in Gunnison.Scarecrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02175915711253730674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-14450734825537831842011-10-12T11:46:55.861-07:002011-10-12T11:46:55.861-07:00From a purely economic standpoint, it would seem h...From a purely economic standpoint, it would seem helpful to collect and analyze data as to the actual amount of activity in a given post office rather than simply the amount of people living in the community that the post office surrounds. I would be much more forgiving of a decision to close a post office (even if it is a "social hub") if it wasn't handling very many letters or packages and there were other close alternatives for its customers.Azarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08580226894068193339noreply@blogger.com