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25,000 isn't rural, it's a small city. The surrounding area could certainly be rural, though. That would make the 25K town the area's "big city" and commercial center.
That is how it is here.
I live about dead center in our township. Houses are 1/2 mile to 1 mile apart, and folks is friendly.
Some good observations in this thread. There are a lot of factors that go into the rural/non-rural calculation, but at 25,000, that's not really "rural" in many senses.
One question is, do people from smaller surrounding towns/villages/rural areas visit the place for "city" services that don't exist in their own areas? If so, it's already sliding down the "rural" scale compared to other places, and has more characteristics of a traditional city.
For example, if the town has a national chain big-box outlet, it is "plugged in" to the national distribution grid in a very direct way. It's one of the "spokes" of somebody's regional warehouse hub. And even if the town is smaller, something like that usually serves as a regional "draw" - it's one of those "city services" that puts the city apart from the country. If the only stores around are "smallboxes," then that's more of a small-town characteristic.
Distance to a larger city also makes a difference. Not merely suburbs (which are part of urban areas), but small towns within easy reach of a big city tend to be a bit different in character from those requiring a longer drive. Is it really a "rural" town if you can drive 45 minutes to a big international airport or a major sports stadium? I wouldn't always rule it out, but it affects things.
As noted above, West Fargo in particular is part of Fargo–Moorhead, which is a metro area of over 200,000 people. Kind of small by national standards, but nowhere near "rural."
On the other side, I wouldn't rule out areas as "rural" simply because they possess one or more of the following:
-a bank branch
-a post office branch
-a non-big-box "super"-market or food store
-a freeway exit or common freeway services like a motel
-a medical clinic
There are some specks on the map with a couple hundred people or fewer with at least one of those things, so, unless "rural" means smaller than that, I'd include them.
No I don't in answer to the OP's question. 25.000 is a small city or large town depending on how you reference things but look:
Small cities such as these have paid police/fire protection 24/7. Rural areas generally have county sheriffs and fire districts manned with volunteer firemen.
Although shopping can be limited in these small cities, there is usually plenty of stores for most everyday needs. Rural folks must come into town for this.
Municipal water/sewer/garbage collection (doesn't always happen in rural areas)
Some restrictions applied on what one can and can't do such as burning yard wastes in the open. Any smaller towns usually allow such.
These points are why I wouldn't call a city of 25,000 a rural area although it would seem that way to people who have lived in ahem-"major cities".
I don't consider ANY city, town or village to be rural. Small? yes... rural? no. Rural is farms, fields, woods, with a house tossed in here and there for good measure, but none very close to each other. Everything else is not rural. I live in a small town of 1200 people, we are not rural. The area surrounding my town is rural though.
I have an aunt who recently retired in a town in North Dakota called West Fargo. It has a population of over 25 thousand people.
To her it feels more small town than urban especially compared to where she used to live which was Houston, a city of over 2 million people.
I think you hit it on the head, she came from a major city. Rural is not just size, but where the town is compared to other cities and towns in the area. We live in a town of about 25,000. We have large lots, trees, lots of wildlife and sometimes I feel it is just us and Mother Nature. We have no houses across the street or on the street behind us. Yet, because we are only 15 minutes or so from major shopping and other businesses most do not really consider this rural. If we took the same town and moved in 30 miles away it would be very rural.
That said, I think it's worth differentiating between towns that are part of a rural economy and towns that are linked to major metropolitan areas. While I wouldn't class either as rural, there's a vast difference between a town of 25,000 who's outlook is towards a nearby city and a town of 25,000 that serves as the major economic hub for a rural area.
That said, I think it's worth differentiating between towns that are part of a rural economy and towns that are linked to major metropolitan areas. While I wouldn't class either as rural, there's a vast difference between a town of 25,000 who's outlook is towards a nearby city and a town of 25,000 that serves as the major economic hub for a rural area.
Agree, it depends on the surrounding geographic context (things like proximity to relatively larger or smaller communities).
It might be rural if:
You know the postmaster/postmistress
You know the postal carrier, UPS guy, and FedEx guys by name
You knew every kid in your graduating class and at least roughly where he lived
Navigation instructions start out "You go down past the Haney place..."
You rode a horse and drove a tractor at least a couple times growing up
You know who the important families are
The fire department is volunteer
The police dept (if any) has no more than five people
Most people have septic tanks
You have to drive at least twenty miles to shop for more than groceries
The restaurants advertise a "meat and two"
You tell relatives that you live NEAR some place fifty miles away (not a bad idea anyway )
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