Rural Communities

New rules require these mortgage giants to do more business in rural America, freeing up more capital there for additional home mortgages.

Manhattan, Montana, has become a bedroom community with full schools but few businesses.

Three Forks has weathered much. Facing new pressures, can it stay in control?

Vibrant small cities not only offer a hedge against the health of our big ones–certain as that health seems now–but a number of distinct perks of their own.

Livingston is a small town near Yellowstone — it’s also the country’s least expected literary hotspot. Here’s how the town attracts writers (and readers) from all over the world.

To wire, or not to wire? That is the question many are asking when figuring out how to get broadband to the farthest reaches of the country.

With $10 million on the table to the get the job done, Colstrip began laying plans Monday for life after power-plant shareholder Puget Sound Energy cuts ties to coal.

"There are a lot of communities that are quite the places to go for people to ride their bikes; little breweries popping up, and little mountain-type groups. You have to get the trail systems so people know about it before you can get people to come."

It’s true that the rural population is looking very different over time.

But how it has managed to do what so many other small towns across the state have not, and whether it can continue to do so, are other questions entirely, ones that people like Townsend spend their days pondering.