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Posts Tagged ‘amenities’
Rural America: Who’s getting younger?
August 5th, 2010
I doubt anyone is surprised by this news, but information published on the Daily Yonder confirms that much of the rural Midwest has continued to age. Not all rural Midwestern counties, however, followed this trend. Some got younger, including a handful of counties right here in South Dakota.
That’s good news for each of the counties that became younger. But it’s also good news for those counties that became older; hopefully we can learn from these hipster counties.
What does the Daily Yonder article say?
Produced by Roberto Gallardo, the Daily Yonder article focuses on the proportional change in population under age 25 of all rural counties in the U.S during the last decade. As the map to the right indicates, most rural counties (shown in red) experienced a decrease in the percentage of young people; those identified in blue became younger. (source: “Rural America inthe 2000s: Age,” Roberto Gallardo, Daily Yonder, July 21, 2010.)
In total, nine rural South Dakota counties experienced an increase in the percentage of young people. Those counties include:
- Clay
- Hutchinson
- Aurora
- Brookings
- Deuel
- Hamlin
- Day
- Edmunds
- Sully
Looking at the list, I’m a bit surprised. I had expected to find Beadle and Brown Counties on the list, two counties benefiting from major new business startups in recent years, and reservation counties, where birth rates are typically higher. I’m also surprised by just how “typical” these counties are. Strike Clay and Brookings Counties, which house our state’s two largest universities, and the remaining counties are very similar to most rural counties in eastern South Dakota.
Why’s this important?
This research is timely for me because it comes on the heels of “The Rural Growth Trifecta” study, the most recent of a long line of studies emphasizing the importance of outdoor amenities to rural community development. Comparing maps we can see that all of the South Dakota communities that grew younger rank low on the outdoor amenity scale used in “The Rural Growth Trifecta” study.
If outdoor amenities are key to attracting people to rural communities, and I agree they are, then why are these lower amenity counties getting younger? I don’t have the answer to this question, but I’d sure like to know more.
Tags: amenities, population movement, South Dakota
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (0)
No outdoor amenities: What do you do?
July 16th, 2010
If you live in a rural region with natural amenities, you’re in luck. According to a study titled “The Rural Growth Trifecta: Outdoor Amenities, Creative Class and Entrepreneurial Context,” rural communities with natural amenities are positioned well to grow a knowledge economy. Unfortunately, the study paints a bleaker picture for rural communities who don’t possess those amenities. Sadly, that’s most of the rural Midwest where I live. It leaves me wondering: could the future of our rural communities be decided simply because we are sans mountainous views or serene beaches?
The Study
At its core, the study (conducted by scholars David McGranahan and Timothy Wojan of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Dayton Lambert of the University of Tennessee) attempts to better understand the opportunities for economic growth in rural communities by examining the synergies created by connecting outdoor amenities, talent, and entrepreneurship.
There’s a lot of good stuff in the article, but I’ll just highlight the major points for now.
- The authors believe there is an opportunity to take advantage of a growing movement of people out of urban areas.
- Not all members of the creative class have an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Rural communities with lower levels of outdoor amenities tend to attract members of the creative class who fill jobs in factories, not the type of creative class people who help create new jobs.
- Rural communities with outdoor amenities attract more of the “creative class,” have higher levels of what the authors term “entrepreneurial context,” and experience greater job growth. (source: David McGranahan, Timothy Wojan and Dayton Lambert, “The rural growth trifecta: outdoor amenities, creative class and entrepreneurial context,” Journal of Economic Geography Advanced Access, May 17, 2010. )
I’ve been wrestling with the findings of this study for over a week. Deep in my heart, I know that rural communities who don’t possess loads of natural amenities can become places where talented people want to live. I had hoped to conclude this post with advice for communities with low amenities. But I’m not ready to offer that quite yet.
One comment I will make today, however, is that talent attraction in rural communities without abundant natural amenities needs to look different than talent attraction in those communities with abundant amenities - much like urban and rural talent attraction strategies must follow different forms. But the devil will be in the details.
So, I’m curious what you think. Whether it’s a gut reaction or an example of a low-amenity rural community that breaks the mold, your thoughts would be appreciated. It’s too important of an issue for us to not talk about.
Update: Cory Heidelberger at Madville Times has provided some analysis on the subject. Check out his post titled “Boost Rural Entrepreneurship: Build Bike Trails.”
Tags: amenities, creative economy, entrepreneurship
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (6)
Does your community need a coffee shop and other Third Places?
January 14th, 2009
During an economic development planning meeting in 2004, several high school students claimed our community (Howard, SD) needed a coffee shop. That statement confounded most of the adults in attendance. “What do you mean? We’ve already got two,” a community leader retorted, referring to the town’s two small cafés.
Beyond the obvious differences between a coffee shop and a small town café, most of the adults in the room missed the point the students were making: Younger people enjoyed going to larger communities to hang out in coffee shops. If we wanted our community to be a place for their generation, we needed a coffee shop.
To my disappointment, the coffee shop idea didn’t make the final cut on our prioritized list of projects, deferring instead to more traditional “job creation” strategies. At the time, I thought a coffee shop would serve as an excellent “amenity”, making our community more attractive to both Gen Y and newcomers. I’ve since learned that there’s a lot more going on in coffee houses than coffee and conversation. And I have sociologist Ray Oldenburg to thank for this discovery.
Coffee Houses are “Third Places”
It has been two decades since Oldenburg invented the name “third places” in his influential book The Great Good Place to describe informal gathering places like cafés, pubs, bookstores, community centers and main streets.
To Oldenburg, third places carry out important community building functions that cannot be fulfilled by “first places” (our homes) and “second places” (our places of work). They become the places where people develop personal relationships and a sense of community. Without them, families are left to sit at home and watch television by themselves.
Oldenburg goes into great depth explaining the community building functions carried out by third places. We’ll talk about them more in later posts, but for now I’d like to focus on helping readers recognize third places in their own communities– not all cafés, pubs, bookstores and community centers meet the qualifications of third places.
Characteristics of Third Places
Third places come in many forms, but Oldenburg identifies eight characteristics that third places share:
- Neutral ground: People are free to come and go as they chose at third places: no time requirements, no obligations, no invitations needed. Much of our lives in first places (home) and second places (work) are structured and mandated. Not in third places.
- Is a Leveler: Since everyone is welcome and there are no requirements for membership, people from all walks of life gather in third places. In this environment, people have an opportunity to get to know each other outside the confines of their work; which in turn helps them value each other as individuals - regardless of their social or economic status.
- Conversation is the Main Activity: Oldenburg describes this perfectly when he writes; “Nothing more clearly indicates a third place than that the talk there is good; that it is lively, scintillating, colorful, and engaging” (The Great Good Place - p. 25) Games like chess, darts, and dominos are often present as well because they contribute to the playful conversations Oldenburg describes. And loud music, for obvious reasons, is never present.
- Assessable and accommodating: Third places tend to be conveniently located, often within walking distance of one’s home. They are also open long hours enabling people to come and go as they please. After all, if third places are difficult to get to, people won’t go there as often and they won’t find their regular friends there either.
- The Regulars: When one walks into a third place, he or she easily recognizes that many patrons are regulars at the establishment. These regulars are often the main attraction and give the place its characteristic mood. But unlike other places, newcomers are welcomed into the group. All that is required is regular attendance.
- A Low Profile: “As a physical structure, the third place is typically plain,” writes Oldenburg (p. 36). Hominess takes precedence over pretense.
- The Mood is Playful: With food, drink, games, and conversation present, it’s not surprising that the mood of third places is light and playful. This mood encourages people to stay longer and to come back repeatedly.
- A Home away from Home: At their core, third places are spaces where people feel at home. They feel like they belong there, and they have a sense of ownership in the place. Sometimes, Oldenburg warns, third places feel more like home than home.
Howard’s new Third Place
Last summer (2008), three entrepreneurial ladies opened a coffee shop in Howard called Higher Grounds. I’ve been watching it ever since and have concluded that it is developing into an outstanding third place. It really seems to be filling the need people have to experience a sense of community, which may explain why it’s a success.
So, what about your rural community? Do you have any good examples that you can share? I’d really like to create a list of unique third places. Hopefully, these examples can serve as an inspiration to residents in rural communities that currently lack strong third places.
Other resources on coffee shops and third places
- “A new third place enhances a walkable space“ – Greater Greater Washington
- “The Downtown Coffee House Business“ - Downtown Economics (U. of Wisconsin Extension)
- COFFEE SHOP - Research Project for Dr. Gaffney’s Urban Social Geography at UNC
Note: Photo courtesy of Elisa Sand of the Madison Daily Leader
Tags: amenities, coffee shop, Howard SD, Ray Oldenburg, sense of place, social capital, third places
Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (8)