Does the Sustainable Communities Agenda Have Something to Offer Rural America?
Much of the thinking among those of us concerned with how to accommodate a growing US population in a sustainable way focuses on our metropolitan regions – our bigger cities and suburbs. Indeed, that is such a significant part of my own work and writing that my editors at The Atlantic Cities have started characterizing me as an “urban wonk.” Might as well wear the label with pride, since my credentials as, say, “guitar wizard” or “cycling champion” are, shall we say, somewhat less well established.
But there’s another side to this, one that I touched upon in yesterday’s post about land conservation: what about rural communities? Can we have resilient and sustainable economic development, patterns of living and, in some cases, growth in our smaller towns and villages?
My answer is yes, as I wrote earlier this year in a short essay about the interdependence of a healthy rural landscape and healthy rural towns, using Maryland’s Eastern Shore as my frame. But, as I also wrote in an earlier series last year, getting to yes, as they say, is not so easy: one of the particular challenges to maintaining healthy rural communities is that, to a distressing degree, their traditional centers – the “there” there – have been disinvested every bit as much as the centers of our large cities. Many of them are suffering population loss, just as our central cities did before they began rebounding in the last decade. This can sometimes result in an almost desperate attempt to chase growth and development – any kind of growth and development, no matter what the long-range consequences may be, in search of near-term jobs and revenue.
It’s hard to blame them, of course, given the challenges rural towns face and the state of the rural economy. But there’s a better way: my friend Chuck Marohn is essentially making a career of helping towns address their needs with a more economically prudent approach that stresses reinvestment in existing assets rather than development requiring infrastructure expansion.
A new report from our friends at the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities – the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development – makes a strong case that Chuck is on the right path. Moreover, the report demonstrates that in many cases the road to resiliency can be assisted by strategically invested public funds, where the communities seek them. The report, Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities, was produced by the three Partnership agencies in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture.
Source: Switchboard.NRDC
By: Kaid Benfield
For more posts, see his blog’s home page.