Perception of Starkville

[dparker]

I'll add my two cents.

If we are talking about perception then it all comes down to lived experience and people seeing it with their own eyes. Starkville is hard to get to and expensive to stay. There are rarely reasons to visit (conferences, concerts, etc.) outside of sports and sports weekends are the most expensive. The end result is the people with a bad perception don't go see the changes everyone is referencing.

I drive through Tuscaloosa on the way to the coast. Auburn is on the way to ATL. Baton Rouge is on I-10. Fayetteville is on I-49. Nashville is Nashville. Columbia is at the intersection of 3 interstates. And so on and so forth. Oxford and Starkville are only serviced by HWYs and Oxford is relatively close to I-20 and 55 on the way to Memphis.

We can't change the geography but maybe we can give more reasons for it to be a destination with academic conferences and professional events but those are typically held in bigger cities with more hotel rooms and things for attendees to do.