Engaging Leaders in Community Learning

home

The Current Predicament in Rural Communities

Garrison Keillor, the storyteller of Lake Wobegon fame, once commented that people believe they can endure in rural areas because of three interconnected circles: the circle of family (or kin), the circle of church (or faith) and the circle of community (or place). In short, people know who they are and their lives gain both stability and meaning largely due to kinship, faith and the fact that they are rooted in a specific geographic place.

The small, rural community, and the smaller it is, the greater it is at risk, is losing its importance as an anchor which provides its residents with stability and meaning. In a paper delivered at a recent international conference (1995), I emphasized that small, rural communities in the Midwest and across the country face several challenges currently. Communities with fewer than 5,000 residents are vulnerable and those with less than 1,000 or 2,000 residents seem especially vulnerable:

1. The farm crisis: Wisconsin has been losing 1,500+ farms each year for decades. Since the mid 1980s the exit from farming has intensified due to high farm expenses, low commodity prices, plummeting land values, world markets which are outside the control of farmers, and seasonal forces (droughts, floods, hail and frost) which are also outside their control. There were 167,000 dairy farms in Wisconsin in the 1940's and approximately 30,000 in 1994 that's an 80+% loss in dairy farms in the last 50 years!

2. Business failures on Main Street: In farming communities, the farm and Main Street economies are closely interconnected and as the farm economy fails, so does the business economy. Estimates vary but we know that one Main Street business is lost for every five to eight farms which are lost in the surrounding area. Agribusinesses, feed mills, farm implement dealers, cheese factories, veterinarians are affected first but hardware stores, department stores, grocery stores, and other Main Street business are also at risk over time.

3. National chains and urban malls: William Kowinski (1985), in a book entitled The Malling of America, points out that urban shopping malls began in the Twin Cities around 1960 and have spread across the country at a dizzying pace. National chains, most notably Hardee's and Walmart, have also spread across the country during the past ten to fifteen years. Malls and national chains bypass small, rural communities and, where they are built in communities of 2,000 to 10,000 people, they have a way of displacing community owned and operated businesses.

4. Shift in shopping allegiances: Before the emergence of shopping malls and national chains, rural residents understood the importance of shopping locally. Rural residents began shopping for some items in urban areas because they could obtain variety, cheaper prices or a more enjoyable shopping experience. Over time, a complex interplay of shifting shopping allegiances and failed businesses has resulted in fewer shoppers and fewer shopping options in rural communities.

5. Out migration of local youth: Farm families in Wisconsin have not been encouraging their children to continue in the tradition of farming. And many other youth in rural communities don't see their future tied to that of the local area. They frequently leave to further their education, seek employment, or meet other needs for social, cultural, or recreational opportunities. The key issue is hope: if youth don't see hope for a future in their community, they will leave and, increasingly, that is what is happening.

6. Rising age structure locally: Older persons, in their search for a slower pace of life, a lower cost of living and a friendlier environment, often seek out small rural communities for their retirement years. Those who do move into rural communities are usually in good health but, as they age, their needs for health care and other supports intensify. If youth move out of the community and older residents move in, this results in a rising age structure and creates demands for services which may not be there.

7. School, hospital and factory closings: In the 1960s and 1970s, many small manufacturing plants moved to rural areas since the costs of labor, transportation and buildings were lower than in urban areas. The economics of business have changed and many factories new and old are closing down, moving to urban areas or moving to countries where the costs of production are lower. In addition, the economics of education and health care have caused rural schools and hospitals to close, making these services difficult to obtain locally.

8. Increased unemployment and poverty: Schools and hospitals are two of the largest employers in rural communities. If these institutions close or if factories and Main Street businesses shut down, rural residents may be at risk for unemployment, underemployment or seasonal employment. This, in turn, has an effect on poverty: in 1990, the metropolitan poverty rate was 12.1% whereas the non-metropolitan poverty rate had risen to 16.7% (more will be said about this in the section on rural poverty).

9. Reduced volunteer involvement: William and Judith Heffernan (1986), two Missouri sociologists, did a study during the farm crisis of the 1980s and learned that 45% of the farm families had cut back on their involvement in volunteer activities i.e. Homemakers, 4-H, Pork Producers and Holstein Breeders. Depression and emotional highs/lows were two of the factors which caused people to cut back on their involvement. The incredible irony is that people cut back on their voluntary activities at the very time that community involvement was most needed.

10. Health and human service squeeze: A U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs developed a report entitled "Governing The Heartland: Can Rural Governments Survive the Farm Crisis?" This report highlighted the squeeze created when demands for local services exceed a community's ability to pay for these services. Recent budget cutbacks at the federal level, followed by tight budgets at the state level, have triggered a health and human service squeeze at the local level. Iowa was one of the first states to experience the farm crisis and its ripple effects. Conger and Elder (1994) cite a number of statistics that demonstrate the complex interrelationship between the farm and Main Street economy: "During the decade of the 1980s, the state saw approximately 20% of Iowa farmers lose their operations, 75 banks and savings and loans close their doors, 41% of rural gas stations go out of business, the loss of 260 automobile dealerships and almost 500 grocery stores, and a staggering increase in bankruptcies . . . " Conger and Elder also reference an April 1992 editorial in the Iowa Falls Times Citizen: "rural Iowa has been damaged the most by the changing economic winds. While not broken, the rural fiber has been stretched until vacant store fronts, lost jobs, dwindling population and decaying small towns dot the rural scene."