Plains, Kansas, in Search of a Grocery Store

A Kansas Town Rallies For a Modest Lifeline:  A Local Grocery Store.  (The New York Times, 12/29/2014)

Welcome to Plains.

Unlike some rural communities, Plains is not on the brink of death. It has about 1,150 residents, a figure that has stayed mostly steady for decades. There is a newly remodeled library, a busy post office and a high school a few miles outside of town. 

Residents gather for coffee in the morning at Daylight Donuts, plan their evenings around youth choir concerts and speak highly of the Saturday night sirloin specials at the Plains Tavern. 

“Plains is definitely a typical small town, with a small-town atmosphere,” said Elton Argo, the school district superintendent. “It’s a safe, very comfortable community.” 

But there are also empty storefronts, residential streets with overgrown sidewalks, and many people who grew up here now raising their own families elsewhere.