Rural Communities

Communities that have all been remarkably successful at attracting business expansions and relocations. It is a reflection of the remarkably vibrant local economies these communities have built over the past several decades.

A growing number of economic development professionals have stopped chasing big businesses and started chasing the entrepreneurs who create them.

Getting college students to come is one thing.
Getting them to stay after graduation is something else.

"Despite New Hampshire’s status as one of the states in the northeast which is still be to generate substantial net inflows of residents into the state from other states in the region and the nation, slow rates of natural increase in the population and still limited foreign immigration in New Hampshire mean a slower growing and aging population for the state," Harrington said. "These trends indicate the likelihood of a continued slowdown in the rate of growth in the size of the state’s labor force in the coming years. An overwhelming share of New Hampshire’s labor force growth in the future will be among those aged 55 and over."

The creative-class thesis—that towns need to attract engineers, architects, artists, and people in
other creative occupations to compete in today’s economy—may be particularly relevant to rural
communities, which tend to lose much of their talent when young adults leave for college, the
Armed Forces, or “city lights.”

Across the country, rural areas have seen a steady influx of urban dwellers in the past decade, some of whom are suffering a bit of Green Acres-esque shock.

Researchers at Virginia Tech are looking at ways to attract companies considering moving overseas to relocate to low-cost rural areas of the U.S. — a concept dubbed "farmshoring".

Fewer and fewer parents are allowing their children to leave the house unattended. Citing safety concerns, nearly half of parents prefer to keep their kids home.

That’s right: telecommunication has evolved to the point that it’s possible to keep working, even from the roof of the world.

"The reason we are here in Tacoma is we want to be like you when we grow up," said Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson