Growth and Development

Cities See Population Declines, Too

editor — Sun, 18 May 2008 07:44:56 -0700

The always good Legal Ruralism notes the story in the read more

Poorhouse Spring: How Do You Spell 'Revival'?

editor — Thu, 8 May 2008 14:37:51 -0700

Could Ewing, Kentucky, (pop. 300) and the West End be primed for rejuvenation?

Several changes now on the horizon could truly reinvigorate the West End of Fleming County over the next few years. First and foremost, from my perspective, Ewing should have a municipal sewer system in place. It’s needed for more reasons than most people probably realize, and not just for the small amount of development that it may bring. That part is okay but needs to be tempered so that we do not have structures popping up everywhere. Planning and zoning would curtail this, but those are the worst words you can say to a lot of people: “It's my property, da*% it, and I'll do what I da*% well please with it.”

Danville Awakens from 'Long Slumber'

editor — Thu, 1 May 2008 19:16:56 -0700

"Danville (above) is one of a handful of American communities where men and women are living shorter lives," begins a forthright editoria

Why Rural AND Urban Pennsylvania Might Be Bitter

editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:07:58 -0700

HOUSEHOLD INCOMES IN PENNSYLVANIA, 2000
Counties with median incomes below the national median in brown; in green, counties with median incomes above the national average
Map: Tim Murphy, for Daily Yonder

If economic distress causes bitterness, as Sen. Barack Obama surmised last week, then it's not just rural Pennsylvania that should be feeling resentful. Nearly the entire state has seen its fortunes diminish over the last 30 years as the demise of the Pennsylvania economy has been both an urban and a rural phenomenon.

Now, in a state that once was the home of the nation's manufacturing base, the largest private employer is Wal-Mart.

In 1970, nearly nine out of every 10 counties in Pennsylvania had median incomes that were above the national county median. Thirty years later, there's a different story. In 2000, less than half of Pennsylvania's counties had median incomes that exceeded the national median.

In 1970, a better picture in Pennsylvania: many more counties had median household incomes above the national median (green)
Map: Tim Murphy

Rural Development? Maybe in the Next Farm Bill

editor — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:05:48 -0700

School girl prays before a lunch provided by the federal government in 1936. In the curent Farm Bill, school lunches received more money.

Photo via pingnews/National Archives

In August 2007 Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin offered a challenge of sorts to people working in rural development. Sen. Harkin said he would help boost the amount of rural development funding in the federal farm bill, if its constituencies could muster support for it.

Despite serious effort on the part of many, there is no increase in rural development funding in the current versions of the farm bill.

Neither the House nor the Senate conference committee offer -- made last Thursday and Friday -- increases the rural development section of the farm bill one cent above the baseline the Congressional Budget Office set last winter.