One of the guest speakers at the recent Solutions Event talked about the changing trends in rural communities and the need to reflect on those changes in order to move forward.
Heather Keam is an Associate Director for the Deepening Community practice area at the Tamarack Institute and she presented a number of specific changes that are impacting rural communities.
“Changes in family and social structures, our work and time pressures, that it costs more to be socially connected, we spend a lot of time in our cars driving, technology has connected us but it's very superficial, it doesn't go too deep, a decrease in participation in community life,” said Keam.
She says examples of that are the drop in the number of people participating in the everyday values of community, to the number of people who ran for the local council in the last election or voted in the last election.
Keam also notes small towns are struggling with a vision. They want to keep the old ways, but they have to figure out how to keep the old ways but in a new way. And so a lot of the small towns need to really re-think their visions for the future.
Keam says another significant change is the feeling of loneliness and disconnection, which she says was already growing, increased further with the pandemic. Keam also suggests that as rural communities grow, they become more transient. “Small towns are struggling with a vision. They want to keep the old ways, but we have to figure out how to keep the old ways but in a new way. And so a lot of the small towns need to really rethink their visions for the future,” she added.
“So the born and raised and died in your community has changed and we've got more people moving in and out of communities. A lot of communities are mostly affluent white communities in the rural areas and now we've got people coming with diverse backgrounds,” said Keam. She adds the challenge for the community is finding ways to make those newcomers feel welcome.
Keam says rural communities are clearly changing and what is needed is a vision that embraces those changes and embraces growth. And Keam adds, she is confident that that can be achieved.