Back in July, as I joined over 10,000 others to fly across the country to Oshkosh, I noticed the towns located along railroads. They are often bigger than the towns less fortunate that aren’t served by a railroad. (Or an interstate, since 100 years after the railroads were laid out by trappers and scouts, modern aerial surveys identified the best routes to be the same as those identified by earlier explorers.) We know the names of the towns that thrived with the good fortune of having a railroad. Names like Fargo, Bismarck, Omaha, Cheyenne and Abilene. These towns grew into cities because of the economic advantage of their location along a major transportation network. And that is exactly the advantage held by any town that has the vision and foresight to create and maintain an airport that serves their community.

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