Rural Society

This work examines the main economic trends affecting rural areas today and the types of local programs that are being implemented in response. The lessening of federal government involvement since the Reagan administration has shifted the public policy focus, placing greater responsibility for economic development on local governments. With more states encountering financial austerity, even greater requirements for economic development activities will rest with local governments--especially in rural areas. The long-term effects of these developments on states and localities are analyzed, and suggestions are made for economic development initiatives that local governments can undertake.

"A timely & important book for those seeking to move beyond the numbing instrumentalism that dominates the current discourse on the purposes of education in our time.... Educators -rural, urban, & suburban-in search of direction for renewal & hope for the future of public education will find it here." Don Ernst Director of Government Relations, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development "The best analysis of what has gone wrong in the countryside & what might be done to save it since Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America." Paul Gruchow Author of The Necessity of Empty Places & Grass Roots: The Universe of Home

"The relationships among migration and the other components of population change and their joint effect on the structure of the rural population of the United States are analyzed in this volume. The first two chapters describe various theoretical and methodological issues. . . . Chapters 3 through 6 detail rural population changes. . . . Chapter 7 analyzes forces that have affected . . . rural population change. A final chapter summarizes major changes . . . and identifies critical issues for future migration research." Population Index

This timely, needed volume focuses on the over 9 million people in the U.S. living in poverty in rural settings. Rural poverty is not confined to one section of the country or to one ethnic group. It is a national problem, and the resolution of hidden America's persistent economic plight will now depend on a better understanding of who is poor and why. This book's clear, authoritative chapters describe the declining opportunities available in rural areas--including the social, educational, and political factors that so often pose barriers to economic advancement.

Each year, millions of tourists are drawn to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to experience first-hand the quintessential pastoral--both as an escape from urban life and as a rare opportunity to become immersed in history. The area has attracted visitors eager to catch a glimpse of the distinctive religious community of the Old Order Amish, to appreciate the beauty of the farmland, to enjoy the abundant and delicious food of the Pennsylvania Dutch...and, most recently, to shop at the area's outlet malls. For nearly three hundred years, Lancaster county has been a model of agricultural prosperity, rooted in the family farm. The rural character of the place remains Lancaster's predominant tourist attraction, but is at odds with its rapidly rising population and the commercial and residential growth that has brought. It is the tension between rural tradition, progress, and urbanization that lies at the core of Garden Spot. David Walbert examines how twentieth century American culture has come to define and appreciate rurality, and how growth and economic expansion can co-exist with preservation of the traditional ways of life in the region. Will small farms fail in a culture that has increasingly come to value productivity over quality of life? What impact will further development have on maintaining this region's character? Can rurality and progress co-exist in the 21st century? A vivid portrayal of the land and people, residents and outsiders alike, Garden Spot narrates the history of this region and considers the challenges Lancaster County and its people face in order to preserve their unique place.

While the dream of moving to a small town in a beautiful rural area is common among many Americans, that dream often turns into a nightmare for those who decide to follow it. More than half of the people who move to small towns in recreational places will move away in less than five years, and their rapid successive moves are often marked by anger and frustration as they encounter the realities of poor job possibilities, an impersonal life, and a deteriorating natural environment. Jobes describes the experiences of newcomers, and oldtimers, to Bozeman, Montana, a small Rocky Mountain town Jobes has observed and researched since the early 1970s. Through interviews and observations, Jobes has found that newcomers arrive with unrealistic illusions about life in a small town and that life in such places is simultaneously complex and dynamic.