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As you can see, despite the narrative of urbanization and the decline of small towns, most of the US' counties are growing until you get east into the Great Plains.
Why are people moving to these small towns when there are so few economic opportunities? Alternately, why are natives of these places less likely to leave (vs. natives of Midwestern/Southern/Northeastern small towns)?
Is there really enough demand from retirees and remote tech workers (both fairly small segments of the population) to keep all these areas growing, even when many of them (southern Washington, northern and central Nevada, central California) are not particularly "scenic"?
Could it be that the narrative of rural decline has always really been about the decline of farming, and local economies that don't depend on that are faring better? Or is it that the West was settled later, so its infrastructure hasn't had the time to decay to the point that it wouldn't be financially worth fixing?
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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California migration to all of the Western states. Most Western metro areas are pretty expensive to live in now, so I'm sure there is intake from that as well in the more average areas that may be having moderate growth. My best friend's parents just sold their house and small ranch in Douglas County, CO just outside Denver and traded it for the Black Hills in South Dakota because it was more affordable for them to board their horses there.
There's also a growing outdoor recreation culture and people who want tp check out of the rat race. Places like Durango, CO , Flagstaff, AZ, Bozeman, MT and Bend OR and lesser known areas like the Northern Idaho lakes region are a big draw for the outdoorsy crowd and are pretty removed from the large metro areas. Not in the west but remote work is how I get to pull off a living up here in Vermont. I'm sure it could be similar in the rural West.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-21-2020 at 06:30 PM..
Small towns in the west seem to have a lot more going for them than the economically depressed, stagnant small towns that dot the Deep South and Appalachia.
I would add Sedona AZ., Boise ID., and Pagosa Springs CO. To this list.
Some other possible reasons for small town growth:
The cookie cutter landscape that many of us detest about suburbia, has consumed our urban areas as well.
American downtowns are littered with chain restaurants, mass produced warehouse lofts and a Starbucks and Target every few blocks
In addition to great scenery and local recreation, many of the small satellite cities throughout the west have their own historical downtown areas which can be quite fun in their own way.
The option to work remotely is becoming more realistic for many, and coupled with so many options for online education that even local school systems are no longer a deal breaker for small town living.
Last edited by Good Red Road; 01-22-2020 at 01:05 PM..
I would wager that it’s most retirees fleeing the expensive coastal areas in California and the PNW. There’s probably also some young people that move for the recreational opportunities. But in my experience, this group is pretty transient and doesn’t stay long term.
No data to support this but the just seem way more desirable than rural areas elsewhere, with more well paying jobs pertaining to natural resources, better scenery, and just less cultural baggage in general.
The map is a little bit deceptive. Those counties are huge, so if a county's main city, pop. 35,000, grows by 3,000 people, you get a big purple splotch the size of Delaware on the map. Also, a lot of the growth is taking place in small towns which means big percentage growth.
That said, I will not dispute the general thesis of this thread, smaller population centers throughout the Mountain West, PNW, and Texas are growing at a faster rate than most anywhere in the country, and the main reason driving that, as has been stated, is people expanding out of California into neighboring trendy areas. (note the relative popularity of Colorado, the poster boy of this trend, compared to some of its neighboring states.
The same trend is evident back East as can be seen by the traditional growth areas popular with retirees and COL migrants back east, Florida, North Carolina, Upland South areas as well as the suburban/exurban counties surrounding NYC, DC (mainly into N. Virginia), and eastern Mass. Some of the out migration of the Northeastern cities is fueling the growth out West, too, I think Colorado, being the trendleader, and Arizona, as well as the PNW to a lesser degree.
That's an interesting point. Maybe the fact that the rural West has been growing in population for the past few decades is helping it grow further: the continual trickle of newcomers (especially if they're from coastal California) is helping most places not feel too insular and stuck in the past, which makes more people want to move there.
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