Micropolitans of the Heartland

I've wondered for a while if technology would make it possible for small towns in rural areas to repopulate with knowledge workers and their families -- people who want to get out of the cities and into smaller communities, and for whom that's possible via telecommuting. The kinds of cultural amenities that people used to only be able to get in bigger cities -- a good selection of movies, big bookstores, record stores with a decent selection -- are now available over the web (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, etc.). Plus you can order specialty foods over the Internet if you can't find what you want locally. And the homeschooling revolution makes families less dependent on local educational institutions. Point is, technology makes small town and rural life more doable for people who before the Internet wouldn't have been able to choose that kind of life without giving up their careers, or certain pleasures of city life. The idea that if you live in a small town you're going to be bored silly is outdated.

Well, Joel Kotkin says this out-migration from urban areas has actually been happening slowly for a while, and it's picking up steam. Excerpt:

Another type of Heartland growth could be described as re-emerging rural hubs. These are usually small and midsized cities that grew up during the period of agricultural expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then began to decline or plateau as early as the 1920s. Prominent examples include Fargo, Sioux Falls, Des Moines and Boise. These communities are exploiting their lower costs, good public schools, universities and better quality of life for middle-class families to lure high-end professional service firms, information companies and diversified, often innovative small manufacturers.

In coming decades, these trends may be further driven by aesthetic preferences, particularly those of retiring baby boomers, for a less dense environment. In contrast to always popular stories about people “returning to the cities”, more than twice as many adults say they would prefer to live in a rural or small town area. That is partly because most Americans perceive rural America as epitomizing traditional values of family, religion, self-sufficiency—someplace attractive, friendlier and safer, particularly for children. These views are held by the majority of suburbanites as well as by a slightly larger proportion of rural residents, suggesting that there is a large, mostly untapped market that would consider a move to a smaller community in the Heartland. As one demographer suggests, “America’s love affair with suburban life may be winding down in favor of the countryside.”

There's a discussion in the piece about Fargo, ND:

These characteristics are the main draw, particularly to relocating thirty-somethings, notes Mike Chambers, founder of the fast-growing biotech firm Aldevron. It’s an experience common to many companies in this buckle of the Brain Belt. “Wherever you go you find people who went out and came back”, says Howard Dahl, CEO of Fargo-based Amity Technologies, a fast-growing agricultural machinery firm, and former head of the local Arts Council. “We constantly get resumes from people at Boeing in Seattle or somewhere else. They don’t come for the mountains or the sunshine or the culture—they come back because of the kind of people who are here.”

Dahl, a former Lutheran seminarian, says religion also plays a major role, but not in the loud, assertive tones one might find in Houston or Dallas. “Religion and family play a huge role in everything, but it’s quiet. It’s people’s sense of ethics”, he suggests. “It’s that you care about your community and can count on your neighbors.” Such values, Aurora’s Gary Allen believes, are the real secret behind the nascent Heartland resurgence. In a town of barely 4,500, there are more than thirty non-profit foundations, with assets in excess of $45 million. It is all part, notes Gary Warren, of a community spirit reflected in the city’s extensive recreation facilities, its well-maintained central square, library, senior center and museum. “Community building is a way of life here”, Warren offers. “You give to your community the way you give to your church on Sunday. It’s the essence of what it is to live here, and it’s why people decide they want to come here.”

Having grown up in a good small town, I would caution against idealizing any place. It can't be said often enough that as long as cable/satellite TV exist, there's no way to escape popular culture entirely. But boy, I sure would love to be able to live here, even if there were no jobs for me there.