A growing chorus of rural leaders agrees that new opportunities are on the horizon for rural America. Economic consolidation and outmigration need not be rural America’s future. The question most rural regions now face is this: How to claim the new opportunities? At root, this question is all...

Rural areas are thought to have two salient features, remoteness and small scale, that tend to inhibit economic growth. These features have explained at least partially why economic growth in the nation's rural areas has often trailed that in metropolitan areas. However, the rural economic...

After a steep recession in the 1980s, many rural places are mounting a strong economic comeback in the 1990s. Reflecting the economic turnaround, more people are moving to rural areas. Notwithstanding the improved rural economic picture, rural leaders remain concerned about rural America's...

More than 250 rural leaders from throughout the nation and beyond gathered at a special conference in Kansas City in April to discuss rural America's future, its challenges, and policies to meet those challenges. The conference was the first in a new series sponsored by the Center for the Study...

The United States needs a new rural policy. That was the conclusion of ten policy experts and 250 rural leaders from throughout the nation who met in Kansas City for the Center for the Study of Rural America’s second annual conference on rural policy matters, Exploring Policy Options for a New...