Survival of rural America
Subtitle: small victories and bitter harvests
By: Richard E. Wood.
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Lawrence, Kan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9780700615773
Subjects: Sustainable development -- Kansas; Kansas -- Rural conditions
Description: "Richard Wood knows that rural communities need more than jobs or money to survive: they need to become valued again as desirable places to live. He takes a closer look at what has happened in several Kansas farming towns and shows that there is much more depth and diversity to rural life than meets the eye." "Wood traveled the back roads to gather stories of people in some of the most vulnerable communities that are trying to stave off depopulation. These are not just accounts of people scrambling to survive in incipient ghost towns like Ada, but gritty success stories like Plainville, where an upscale design business ignited a revival, or Atwood, which shifted from industrial recruitment to home-grown entrepreneurship." "With dozens of photos that bring rural America to life, Wood provides an inside look at what really makes this country tick - and at some of the developments that may turn the tide against what seemed an inevitable decline. Although the odds are stacked against rural recovery, the small victories that Wood shows us hold the promise that transformation and revival may yet stave off the final bitter harvest."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-214) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Rural America : our field of dreams; title: Transition : the depopulation of rural America; title: Prospects for a rural revival; title: Kansas : the essence of rural America; title: Rural communities at risk; title: "Welcome home" and the "free land" movement; title: Plainville and Rooks County : high plains, high style; title: Atwood and Rawlins County : surviving in the great American desert; title: Tipton : the town that refused to die; title: Ottawa County : the challenges of becoming a rural bedroom community; title: "The amazing 100 miles" : tourism in rural America; title: Sedan : community building from the top down; title: Selling rural America : Dave Rose and eBay; title: The federal government's role; title: Back to the future : sustainable agriculture and its effect on rural America; title: Ethanol and alternative energy : rural America's saviors?; title: Reinventing rural America : the buffalo commons and other regional metaphors.