[Ravensfort] The demographics of Raven's Fort

Fri Apr 4 10:30:39 PDT 2014

I was speaking more about the mindset of the people that live in the area.

Many of the Woodlanders (?) work in Houston.

Even those that do not work in Houston head south for entertainment.

There are more restaurants and frankly, more everything else.

That pattern is not easily broken.

Why head north into an area which you are unfamiliar with less to offer.

I lived in the area for over thirty years.

Stargate was where I started my SCA life, but switched to Raven's Fort after
a few years.

I thought that I could more easily advance my SCA career in a smaller area.

That could not have been more wrong.

Household bias and nepotism are ugly things, but that is another issue.

My point is, with no meetings in Conroe, people are more likely to play in
Stargate or Gates Edge.

Yesterday when I suggested that our B & B should consider stepping down
early 

because they don't want to make the drive I was dead wrong.

I apologize for overstepping.

I have no right to suggest or insight into when it is best for them to do
anything.

What I should have offered as an alternative if the Conroe meetings stop is 

(Don't be shocked. I'm gonna use the "C" word.)

a discussion about creating a Woodlands / Conroe metroplex canton.  

(The Canton of North Star ?)

There have been two failed cantons in Raven's Fort's past.

One in Cleveland and one in Montgomery, both small towns.

Both were household cantons which kind of damned them from the start.

A Woodlands / Conroe canton has a much, much greater chance of success.

It is already the most densely populated area of the Barony.

We have far more active members than the required five minimum.

There are already Peers and Royals in the area.

I believe that it would be a very short time before shire elevation and who
knows after that.

Please do not get me wrong.

Raven's Fort is my home.

I would be very happy if the meetings in Conroe continue and the issue is
put to rest... forever.

However, if the Conroe meetings do stop, it would put an undue burden on the
south barony populace.

Logistically, it would allow the SCA to grow and prosper in an under
developed area.

Ironically, the members in Huntsville might eventually have to drive to
College Station for their Populace meetings.

No one wants to see that happen.

Thank you for your input.

V NV

From: ravensfort-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:ravensfort-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Darlene Burns
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 5:37 AM
To: RF
Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] The demographics of Raven's Fort

I'm not sure I totally agree with you, Marius. It's a 35 minute drive
(according to Google maps) to downtown Houston and a 40 minute drive to
Huntsville (again according to Google maps). It would look as though The
Woodlands are pretty much balanced between the two points. 

Now my personal experience is that both of those time estimates are about 20
minutes too optimistic. If I lived on that side of the county, I'd give
myself an hour to get to either destination even in the best of traffic. But
in most cases, the stretch between Woodlands and Conroe is the heaviest
traffic...after that it thins out and you can drive faster. But heading
south, it just gets more and more congested. With being at such a balance
point, I think what would influence myself would be the people I was driving
to be with.

The Shire started initially because drive times into Houston were so
awful...and that is back in the 90's. It's only gotten worse in the last 20
years. If I had that history and moved to the center of the county to the
Woodlands, I'd have a tendency to drive North rather than South. If all I
were considering was the drive times involved.

On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 4:40 PM, byzytym <byzytym at consolidated.net> wrote:

My point exactly.

We can only take advantage of the fresh blood if we have a presence in the
area.

People in The Woodlands will drive into Houston rather than Huntsville if
Conroe is not an option.

V NV

From: ravensfort-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:ravensfort-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Raven's Fort
Ansteorra
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 3:44 PM
To: Doug Bell; ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] The demographics of Raven's Fort

Very true my friend.  On top of that we are about to have to deal with the
population explosotion due Exxon-Mobile woodlands new campus.  Many families
are about to move in our zip codes!
Which means fresh blood :)
D

On Thursday, April 3, 2014 1:02 PM, Doug Bell <magnus77840 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Baron Nicholas and I had this discussion back in the early 2000s while
looking at the demographic data for the barony both SCA and real world. He
had the data and I had taken some demography classes in my college's
Geography department.

Raven's Fort has the area of a small Principality with the population found
in many large shires. Rural baronies are not common in the SCA since a
barony is usually grounded in a major city. The Province of Mooneschadowe is
another example of a rural barony but centered around one small town and
college. Raven's Fort was founded as a rural barony with many small
population clusters in small towns but scattered over a large area. This is
an unusual distribution for an SCA group. This distribution is also why you
can't solve the problem of driving distance with cantons. One of these
population centers by itself is not large enough to support a stable
auxillary group over time.

As Houston grows outward the barony begins to look like Canada with the
population concentrating in the southern zip codes.

Given another 10-15 years this will get to the point where 80-90% of the
members will be in the southern quarter of the barony. You will have to
manage these changes as best as you can but every future officer in the
barony needs to remember the issue.

Countries like Chile, Indonesia, and Russia have some of the same
demographic population versus geography issues, so it is not just an SCA
creation. Real world nations haven't come up with a perfect solution to
population distribution trends either.

safe journeys my friends
Magnus

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-- 
Annes
"Munerius Ultra Sanitas" 

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