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WHAT DOES RURAL AMERICA LOOK LIKE? II

When one looks at environment (map, Reading 3-3a), one notes that most of the U.S. land mass is identified as nonmetropolitan and, by implications, perhaps rural. This includes most county units. About 200 counties were moved from nonmetro to metro classification as a result of the 1990 census. It certainly includes the great river valleys, piedmonts, mountains, coastlines and tidewaters, deserts, and plains of the nation. It includes thousands of small towns, like Green Ridge, that dot our land.

Of course, environment impacts how people make a living. Other maps in your readings show a graphic representation of present concentrations of certain economic activities in rural America. Most Americans identify agriculture with rural America. But as these maps that will be discussed below indicate, most rural counties are not dependent on agriculture directly for the livelihood of most of their residents. Note where your county fits in to all of this.

1. Reading 3-9, a map which illustrates industrial activity in rural America. Note the concentration of manufacturing-dependent rural counties in the East, particularly in the southeastern part of the United States. This reflects that historically, for several reasons--the climate and fertility of the land, the changes in agricultural technology and topographical concerns--many agricultural enterprises have moved west. And as this has happened, rural communities have looked frequently to manufacturing as a way of replacing jobs lost in agriculture. For example, in the 1960s many rural southern towns were able to entice branch plants of national manufacturers to settle in their communities and provide new jobs to replace those lost because of new agricultural technology. (Then in the 1980's many of these moved to other nations.) Recent events, NAFTA and GATT, may well hasten further loss of rural industrial jobs!

2. The map (3-10) indicates that many rural counties in the desert southwest, northern Michigan, the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, Florida and southern Appalachia have been targeted as "retirement destination" counties. This is one of the few economic bright spots in rural America as we move through the 1990s. In the Ozarks and Appalachia, many people are returning to their roots after spending adulthoods working in urban industries in the North and West. Many rural counties now find much of their income coming from service industries. This captures a wide range of economic activities. Generally, these counties are gaining population. Most have a small city of 10,000 or more in them. They are the Agravilles mentioned in the previous unit.

3. Reading 3-11, a map of Service Dependent counties: a startling facet of this map is to recognize how many fewer counties are agriculturally dependent now than in 1950. What does all of this mean? How does this map compare with the earlier one that showed counties which lost population?

4. The map, "Persistent Poverty Counties," illustrates that much of the Appalachian and the Mississippi Delta areas have, at least since the 1940s, persistently been plagued by poverty. Changes in technology, both in coal production and cotton agriculture, have caused this. (3-12)

5. Reading 3-13 is a map which identifies U.S. agriculture-dependent counties.

This should be further differentiated, because there are many different concentrations of agricultural enterprises across the country. For further study, a useful resource is the 1982 Census of Agriculture Report entitled "Volume 2, Subjects Index, Part I, Graphic Summary." In this book, one can find graphically displayed the various concentrations of particular kinds of agriculture. These concentrations reflect topography, natural resources such as soil fertility, water accessibility, access to market and technology and cultural traditions, which means that groups have adopted and specialized in certain crops. Let me share some of these with you. (The material from this book is not included, but a helpful map is included, one that identifies some areas of concentration of particular agriculture. See the map "Figure 2.12. Selected Agricultural Production Regions" (3-14).

• Wheat Belt--Mid-Texas, north through Kansas, Western Nebraska, across North Dakota, Montana and into Western Washington
• Corn Belt--Across Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, into Eastern Nebraska and into Southern Minnesota
• Hogs--Concentrated in the Corn Belt
• Cattle feed lots--Concentrated in the Corn Belt
• Rice--The Arkansas-Mississippi Delta, Southern Louisiana and increasingly Southern Texas
• Cotton--Mississippi Delta, Western Texas panhandle and Central Valley of California
• Soybeans--Intermingled in much of the Corn Belt, across Missouri and down the Mississippi Delta
• Tobacco--Across Central Kentucky, East Tennessee, Virginia, Western North Carolina and the tidewater sections of the Carolinas
• Dairy--Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota Sheep and goats--Southwest Texas
• Poultry--Northwest Arkansas, North Alabama and North Georgia
• Vegetables--Central Valley of California and Central Florida

This is not to say that many of these crops are not significant in other parts of the country. It simply suggests that they are concentrated in particular areas that not only reflect environment but also technology and subcultural traditions. You will also want to analyze the map of economic sub-regions. In which did you live? In which others have you lived? Now? Consider how this may have impacted you (more in Volume II, Unit 5). Where does the county you live in fit into this discussion?