Rural America

NPR has identified a cultural phenomenon in rural America: craft beer is economic development—and a draw for young people.

October 8, 2017 - NPR via KPCC

Small towns are in crisis. To save them, it might take a "new ruralism" of community leadership, volunteerism, and ventures in the creative economy.

July 3, 2017 - ASLA The Dirt

Nearly 500,000 people in the rural parts of the United States cannot afford modern plumbing.

September 28, 2016 - The New York Times

As urban economies continue their upward trajectory, residents of counties once considered rural are commuting to cities. This has had both negative and positive effects on the communities in question.

June 22, 2016 - StatChat

A decade ago many of Virginia's rural counties were among the fastest growing in the country, but in most of Virginia's counties deaths now outnumber births, and county populations are consequently growing more slowly or declining.

July 17, 2015 - University of Virginia Center for Public Service

Many rural counties are experiencing “brain gains” as newcomers age 30-49 move in. This migration is keeping small towns alive and contributing to a new narrative about rural places.

September 27, 2014 - CommunityMatters

In his third "place-decoding" essay from France, Chuck Wolfe recalls all that we can learn from walking between settled places.

September 25, 2014 - The Huffington Post

In this opinion piece, Brookings demographer William H. Frey looks at three years of census data and discusses whether urban growth will stay through the decade or whether the U.S. will return to its traditional, post-War suburban growth patterns.

June 2, 2014 - Brookings

Propane prices in some parts of the midwest and south had tripled; governors have demanded investigations into price gouging, and shelters have opened for those unable to afford the steep prices increases, yet production increased 15% from last year.

February 10, 2014 - The New York Times

Come November, 11 of Colorado's 64 counties, mostly in northeast, will vote to form a new state. Jack Healy explores what's behind the 51st State Initiative, what set it off, as well as other secession movements, mostly by rural areas in the U.S.

October 10, 2013 - The New York Times - U.S.

Chuck Wolfe's photoshoot in the Palouse region of southeastern Washington State shows the timeless issues of human settlement, from agrarian to urban.

July 9, 2013 - The Huffington Post

Dollar stores were already a presence in rural communities, but recession has caused dollar chains to ramp up development to keep pace with the public's growing need to stretch their paychecks. Urban communities aren't immune from chain creep either.

January 31, 2013 - Rooflines

A new report by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy titled "Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers,” debunks the myth that "nobody walks" in rural America.

January 31, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

Four thousand FAA workers furloughed and 70,000 contractors were laid off as a result of a congressional disagreement on subsidies to rural airports and a labor provision.

August 10, 2011 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion