Overview
Rural America is diverse, with different places facing
different conditions. Consequently, rural communities
adopt a wide array of development strategies that address
their particular needs. These strategies involve several
basic components, including infrastructure improvement,
business assistance, education and training, amenity-based
development, and community development. Local-based strategies
often draw on funding from Federal and State governments.
Features
 Farm-Based
Recreation: A Statistical Profile—Farm-based
recreation provides an important niche market for farmers,
but limited empirical information is available on the
topic. Access to two USDA databases, the 2004 Agricultural
Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and the 2000 National
Survey on Recreation and the Environment, allow us
to look at the
characteristics of who operates farm-based recreation enterprises.
 Education
as a Rural Development Strategy—Educational
attainment in rural America reached a historic high
in 2000, with nearly one in six rural adults holding
a 4-year college degree, and more than three in four
completing high school. As the demand for workers with
higher educational qualifications rises, many rural policymakers
have come to view local educational levels as a critical
determinant of job and income growth in their communities.
 Recreation,
Tourism, and Rural Well Being—Recreation
and tourism development benefits rural well-being
by increasing local employment, wage levels, and income,
reducing poverty, and improving education, and health.
But rural recreation and tourism development is not
without drawbacks, including higher housing costs.
Local effects also vary significantly, depending on
the type of recreation area. Read the related
Amber Waves feature or download
a list of the recreation counties in an Excel file.
 Rural
Development Theme Paper—Issued as one of
USDA's 2007 Farm Bill Theme Papers, this July 2006
paper summarizes trends and conditions in rural areas,
such as the slowdown in rural population growth and
the continued rise in rural per capita incomes in
the early 2000s. It provides an overview of
USDA's rural development programs, and discusses
several alternative approaches to rural development,
including program targeting, a focus on new
business formation,
and the move toward greater regionalized assistance.
Recommended Readings
Policy
Options for A Changing Rural America—This Amber
Waves article discusses various policy options related
to changing rural economic and demographic conditions.
Farm
Programs, Natural Amenities, and Rural Development—This
Amber Waves article separates the importance of farm
programs from that of natural amenities and other local
characteristics in explaining population growth over the
last 25 years.
Federal
Rural Development Policy in the Twentieth Century—This
report, which appears on the web site of USDA's Rural
Information Center, is a history of the evolution of rural
development policy in the United States.
See all recommended readings …
Recommended Data Products
Federal Funds Data, Fiscal
1994-2001—Presents
annual expenditures or obligations for each Federal program
and for each county and State. The data include Federal
expenditures and obligations for grants, salaries
and wages, procurements, direct payments, direct loans,
guaranteed loans, and insurance.
Natural
Amenities Scale—Measures the physical
characteristics of a county area that enhance the location
as a place to live. The index was constructed by combining
six measures of climate, typography, and water area
that reflect environmental qualities most people prefer.
These measures are warm winter, winter sun, temperate
summer, low summer humidity, topographic variation,
and water area. The data are available for counties
in the lower 48 States.
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