LESSON ONE

RURAL PLACES

RURAL AMERICA
What is your definition of Rural America?
Ski Slopes Mines Farms Resort Communities

Our images of Rural America: Due to:

Family Farms/ Small Farming Communities.

Politicians, Lobbyists, and the Media

All support the myth that agricultural policy is rural policy.

RURAL AREAS ARE:

Rural America is all of the following:
Ski Slopes Mines Manufacturing Farms Retirement Communities Indian Reservations Bedroom Communities

And More!

RURAL COMMUNITIES & PEOPLE

On average 21st century rural communities differ more from each other than they do from urban areas. Rural people face many of the same issues and concerns urban residents do. AND issues related to dispersion and distance.

DEFINITIONS
Researchers and policy makers rely on two federal systems when defining Rural and Urban:
US Census defines territories as Urban/Rural with the intent to differentiate the two. OMB (Office of Management and Budget) focus is integration of Urban/Rural within Metro and Micro areas.

Federal programs currently use more than 15 definitions of Rural.

DEFINITIONS
Most counties, whether metropolitan or nonmetropolitan, contain a combination of urban and rural populations.

According to official U.S. Census Bureau definitions:

Rural areas comprise open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents. Urban areas comprise larger places and densely settled areas around them.
Urban areas do not necessarily follow municipal boundaries. They are essentially densely settled territory as it might appear from the air.

DEFINITIONS
Metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas are defined on the basis of counties. Counties are:
typically active political jurisdictions, usually have programmatic importance at the Federal and State level, and estimates of population, employment, and income are available for them annually. They are also frequently used as basic building blocks for areas of economic and social integration.

DEFINITIONS
Metro and non-metro areas are defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In 2003, OMB defined metro areas as:
(1) central counties with one or more urbanized areas, and (2) outlying counties that are economically tied to the core counties as measured by work commuting.

Outlying counties are included if 25 percent of workers living in the county commute to the central counties, or if 25 percent of the employment in the county consists of workers coming out from the central countiesthe so-called "reverse" commuting pattern. Non-metro counties are outside the boundaries of metro areas and are further subdivided into two types: micropolitan areas, centered on urban clusters of 10,000 or more persons, and all remaining "noncore" counties.

DEFINITIONS
Federal data for certain social and economic characteristics of counties are available on an annual basis, some even more frequently. In contrast, data on the characteristics of rural and urban residents are available only from the decennial censuses. Using population counts from the 2000 Census, the table on the following slide shows the number of residents of rural and urban areas versus non-metro and metro areas.

COMPARISON OF RESIDENCY PATTERNS FOR NEW RURAL-URBAN AND METRO-NONMETRO DEFINITIONS

Rural
Number 29,001,246 30,060,121 59,061,367 Percent 49.2 50.8 NA

County residence Non-metro Metro Total

Urban
Number 20,157,427 202,203,10 4 222,360,53 1 Percent 9.0 91.0 NA

Total
Number 49,158,673 232,263,22 5 281,421,89 8 Percent 17.4 82.6 NA

Share of metro and non-metro residents living in rural and urban areas: Non-metro Metro Total NA NA NA 58.9 12.9 21.0 NA NA NA 41.1 87.1 79.0 NA NA NA NA NA NA

COMPARISON OF RESIDENCY PATTERNS FOR NEW RURAL-URBAN AND METRO-NONMETRO DEFINITIONS

There were 59.1 million rural residents in 2000, a little less than half (49 percent) of whom lived in non-metro counties. There were 49.2 million non-metro county residents, 59 percent of whom lived in rural areas. Metro county residents are preponderantly urban area residents87.1 percent. Overall, 17 percent of the national population lived in nonmetro counties and 21 percent lived in rural areas in 2000. For the first time, a slight majority of rural people now live in metro areas.

PAST AND PRESENT

Rural Communities In the Past:
Were small in size Were isolated Produced homogenous rural cultures Had economies based on natural resources, and a Strong sense of local identity

The Character of Rural Communities have been altered by:

Globalization Connectivity Lifestyle changes

They are not as isolated or homogenous as they were.

COMMUNITY
Community can be defined as:
Groups of people; A place/location where members interact; Organization sets that meet peoples needs; A shared sense of identity; A shared sense of place;

Relationships with
People, Cultures, Environments (both natural and built);

Associated with a particular area.

COMMUNITY
A geographic community:
May/may not provide the social system that meets its members needs. May not provide a sense of identity.

It does provide:
Locality
A geographically defined place where people interact; How they interact shapes the systems.

Therefore, communities can exist in terms of Place and Interest.

COMMUNITY
Community of Place:
Relates you to people and the environment both natural and built.

Community of interest:
Provides a sense of belonging.
Team, Church, Sorority, Political party

MARKETS, STATES & CIVIL SOCIETY

Places are comprised of (Institutional Community Actors):
Markets
Firms and institutions that exchange goods and services for profit.

States (or Governments)

Make markets possible; Set and enforce the rules of operation.

Civil Society

The Common Good. Influences market via consumer groups. Influences the sate via lawsuits, legislation and urging law enforcement.

RURAL COMMUNITIES
Although some feel a sense of community with those who do similar things/ share common values and do not live in the same town At one time rural people turned to community for almost everything. People did all of the following in the same place:
lived, worked, worshipped, shopped, banked, sent kids to school, and Socialized.

SEVEN FORMS OF COMMUNITY CAPITAL

Every community has resources in it! Capital = those resources/assets invested to create new resources.
Natural Capital Cultural Capital Human Capital Social Capital Political Capital Financial Capital Built Capital

FORMS OF COMMUNITY CAPITAL

Natural Capital:
Landscape, Climate, Air, Water, Soil.

Cultural Capital:
Values/approaches to life; The way we regard the world around us.

(Socialization serves to transmit values and cultural capital from a group to its members).

FORMS OF COMMUNITY CAPITAL

Human Capital: Social Capital:
Skills and abilities of individuals.

Networks, Norms, Mutual trust Exists among/within groups. Contributes to common identity and shared future.

Political Capital:

Organization Connections Voice Power (Rural communities have relatively little at the federal level).

FORMS OF COMMUNITY CAPITAL

Financial Capital:
Money for investment.

Built Capital:
Infrastructure Factories Schools Roads Restored habitat Community centers

RURAL COMMUNITIES AND CHANGE

There are Four patterns occurring in Rural American Communities:
1. Rural/Remote locations:
Small populations far from Metro areas; of nations non-metro population; Well educated; High average incomes (this could be changing).

2. Rapid Growth based on nearness to urban areas (Exurban):

Within commuting distance of large metros; Farmland gives way to development; New services are required; Developers make money; Local governments struggle.

RURAL COMMUNITIES AND CHANGE

3. Amenity-Based Rapid Growth:
Rural areas high in natural amenities struggle with these problems of Rapid Growth:
High in-migration High housing costs Increasing taxes Growing immigration populations Increasing water use Decreasing lakes/streams, Threatened wildlife Increased use of land
Deforestation, Soil erosion, Degradation of wilderness

Additionally they attract older and younger populations interested in recreation and retirement.

RURAL COMMUNITIES AND CHANGE

4. Persistent Poverty
The pattern of persistent poverty means:
Low incomes High illiteracy High infant mortality Its hard to find professionals One learns to Leave or make-due.

363 non-metro counties are persistently poor. 90% of 16 Southern States.

FROM THE TEXT (CHAPTER ONE)

More than the nations population lives in rural areas. The rural perspective is worth exploring. It involves the individual and market, state and civil societies. Rural issues can be examined:
in terms of change In terms of history and in terms of interplay of capital.

To understand what is occurring in rural areas we must continually look to both past and present rural urban linkages.

END LESSON ONE

The information contained in this lesson will be covered in Quiz One (and a portion of the Comprehensive Exam.) If you have any questions or concerns about the material in this lesson, please contact me via the mail tool in our online class. Have a great day!