Rural Decline in America

For decades, an important shift has been underway in the ethnic and geographic composition of the United States population.    Massive waves of fresh immigrants from abroad, as well as internal migrations, changing birthrates and an aging population promise to fundamentally alter the nature of the country.  Whether American society will be able to effectively adapt to these changes remains to be seen.  In order to effectively plan for the future, both citizens and leaders must educate themselves on these demographic shifts.

Many rural areas have been experiencing a population drain as professionals, educated people, and the young leave for the cities.  Urban areas often offer jobs and amenities that rural areas and small towns generally lack.  Market consolidation by corporations based in the cities has begun to crowd out the small businesses that have traditionally been the center of economic life in small towns.  Simultaneously, the rapid expansion of factory farming has led to a decrease in the demand for agricultural labor and many family farms have been put out of business as a result.  For the countless unemployed, the only solution is to pull up roots and move to the city.  It is often the case that jobs simply cannot be found outside of the cities.

Because people that grew up in the country often have difficulty dealing with the noise and crowding of the city, they usually move to the suburbs and commute to work.  This arrangement is frequently touted as offering the best of both worlds, but suburbs are well-known to be subject to severe problems of "place."  Frequently, suburban residents of rural extract feel alienated in the suburbs, which are usually made up of people with urban or suburban backgrounds who tend to have radically different values, beliefs, and ideas.

As a result of migration from rural areas, many small towns are in decline.  The flight of young people has left these populations depleted and elderly.  As a result, the birthrate in small towns and the country is on the decline.  Without anything to attract the young, many of these formerly prosperous communities are set to become ghost towns.