The social, cultural, and economic transitions in rural areas across the globe lead us to critique the traditional "top-down" or "bottom-up" distinction as being outdated for contemporary rural policy. In Europe and the United States in particular, high rates of counterurbanization heighten the need for new ways of thinking…

Compares influence of employment growth/diversity, commuting, retirement migration, income, unemployment, age structure, and adjacency with influence of nonfarm self-employment and percentage of labor force that is female on recent declines in nonmetropolitan growth rates. Suggests last two variables are more important determinants of…

Data on rural-urban differences in access to telecommunications technology suggest that the U.S. "digital divide" is diminishing. However, major shortcomings in telecommunications infrastructure persist in rural America, and more serious barriers to rural development are related to human capital shortages. These may be resolved in some…

Blacks who settled in the Western United States influenced the region's development in a number of ways, including agriculture, the cattle industry, mining, and business. (MC)

Examines rural growth of 1970s and 1980s, suggesting ongoing movement of middle class to small towns and rural areas. Describes benefits and problems associated with increasing urban to rural migration. Describes community responses designed to preserve rural integrity. Includes statistics and maps showing population changes. (TES)

Examines the need to reconsider spatial conceptualizations and categories such as urban-rural and core-periphery in light of two recent trends: migration out of cities and the geographic redistribution of economic activities. Suggests that these trends and related policy issues would be better articulated in a regional or local economy framework.…

Examines and explains unexpected population trends since 1970: substantial rural and small-town growth, regional shifts to the South and West, lower birth rates, increased life expectancy, smaller household size, and population growth from immigration. Illustrates how demographic events offer classic examples of the difficulty of predicting human…

Discusses implications of population turnaround, reverse migration for societal polarization, human resources based economy, and rural/urban segmentation on the new socioeconomic role of rural areas. Identifies an interrelated public policy model composed of local community, human resources, technical inputs, and integrating institutions to…

A quarter of nonmetro counties lost population in the 1990s, but population loss was not related to poverty rate or low educational levels, perhaps because low-skill workers can no longer expect better wages in urban areas. Population loss was related to low population density and remoteness (which decrease access to services), lack of natural…