When I think about the characteristics of a sustainable
community, I think of high population density; interconnected, multi-modal
transit options; mixed use neighborhoods…the picture in my head is decidedly
urban. And that’s probably how most of us tend to think about it. Indeed, when
I try to mesh sustainability with rural America, what comes to mind is decidedly un-sustainable: how
Wal-Mart seems to be the only place to shop, with a 20 minute car trip as the
only way to get there. It turns out, though, that I am not giving rural communities
or the sustainability movement enough credit.
I started thinking about the role of rural communities in
the sustainability movement after reading Sean Markey’s “Sustainable Rural
Communities” box in Roseland (p. 24). As he points out, when we think about
sustainable community solutions as solely for high-density urban areas, we
leave out important chunks of people who care about vibrant lifestyles, ecological
health, and economic stability. At the time of the 2010 Census, 19.3% of people
lived in rural communities across the United States. What does the ‘sustainable
communities’ movement have to offer them, and how can they contribute to
advances in sustainability?
Roseland’s chapter left me wanting more tangible answers to
these questions. Markey’s “Sustainable Rural Communities” box vaguely refers to
“numerous (and now well-tested) solutions for rural communities,” but doesn’t
go into which types of solutions he is referring to. Throughout the chapter,
Roseland addresses rural communities only a handful of times, discussing “rural
sprawl” and the need to make the countryside more rural with sustainable
agriculture and forestry. But what does sustainable community development look
like, in concrete terms, for rural communities?
It turns out that there is a significant amount of
government and community attention going to rural sustainable development in
the United States:
Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities, a publication by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities (consisting of HUD, DOT, and EPA), details how sustainability is
being incorporated in rural communities and includes several case studies that
are full of the concrete details I felt were missing from Roseland’s chapter. Sustainability
is integrated into rural communities partially through principles similar to those
advocated in urban areas, such as:
- Revitalization of main commercial streets and town centers
- Construction/retrofits for walkable neighborhoods
- Development of walking, biking, and public transit options where feasible, especially through regional transit services
- Funding for community and regional development planning
- Expansion of broadband internet to facilitate working from home
- Cultivation of ecotourism potential where present
- Protection of watershed and soil health
- Installation of renewable energy facilities (especially wind and solar) using spatial resources
- Implementation of sustainable agriculture techniques (for an especially innovative one, check out the EPA's livestock methane recovery program, AgSTAR)
- Strategic conservation of connected acreage to maintain habitat and ecosystem function
(The International City/County Management Association and
the Smart Growth Network also have a document highlighting sustainable development
in rural communities (Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities) that is good reading for understanding
the challenges of rural areas, how smart growth can be part of the solution,
and a number of policy suggestions to guide the implementation of smart growth
in rural communities.)
One of the most surprising things I learned from this research, perhaps because of my own ignorance, is that rural
communities suffer from many of the same challenges we observe in city
centers—contracting economies, out-migration, population shift to community
fringes, transportation infrastructure with limited connectivity. And, although
every place presents its own challenges, solutions presented by sustainability
are in some cases very similar regardless of if the area is urban or rural. However,
it is important to highlight that some essential sustainability practices are only possible in rural areas. After we
recognize this, we must also acknowledge that people and communities in these
rural areas are integral to reshaping the way we operate in this country.
When we talk about sustainable communities, we touch on
deeply personal values—how and where people choose to spend their lives. This
post does not make any judgments about urban sustainable communities versus
rural sustainable communities in terms of which is most ideal. Rather, it is
aimed at highlighting some of the most salient efforts in rural sustainable
community development so that they can be included in the conversation. The
popular sustainable development discourse in the United States would benefit
from expanding to fully recognize the array of tools we have to shape
communities across the country, from rural to urban, so that everyone has the
chance, in the broadest sense, to be a part of the sustainable community we are
building.
I KNEW there was a reason why the suburbs were calling my name! Well, perhaps not exactly, but this was a very insightful read on how rural communities can also be a sustainable community. Rural communities do suffer from the same roadblocks as urban communities do, and perhaps we need to put more manpower and research in that area. Why do urban communities get the most attention? Are they considered the low-hanging fruit? Arguably, they're both 'high-hanging' fruit, and one just has to take the plunge to garner more movement towards sustainable communities all around.
ReplyDeletePerhaps our collective migration to cities has made rural areas the most ecologically important. Sure, cities should redesign to incorporate healthy greenspace and clean water and air, but the vast majority of agriculture will always take place in the countryside. The weight of our lifestyle requires enormous amounts of land to allow for ecosystem services to work their magic. Rural residents are the keepers of this land; in essence, they are the custodians of our true wealth. We should do all we can to ensure their communities are healthy and resilient, if not for their sake, then for ours.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post as I too am guilty of ALWAYS thinking of urban areas and communities when thinking of sustainable development in general. Just the word rural and its openness lends one to think that sustainability is not as much of an issue in those areas. But as you point out with the Walmart example, it certainly is. And it's obvious that things as simple as broadband access could have some positive impact but not something that had occurred to me in the past as I had yet to consider rural sustainability as a concept. Exciting stuff.
ReplyDeleteCalley's post calls to mind a town in upstate New York where my wife's family vacations: Delhi. Delhi is small, rural, and relatively old. The town's center is far from vibrant, and the commercial needs of Delhi's residents are met in another, larger, town which has a Walmart and a McDonald's and is twenty miles away. Delhi probably cannot turn to ecotourism to develop in a sustainable manner as other nearby towns are equally beautiful. I hope that my comments here are not reflective of any prejudice against rural folk. I do know that the wind power "debate" has "touched down" in Delaware County, in which Delhi is esconced.
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone always picking on Walmart? In the economics of scale they can provide small communities with goods and resources at the cheapest prices. Sure, Walmart puts mom and pop stores out of business, but they efficiently transport all of the goods a community needs and put it in one big supermart. This means one car trip to one nodal shopping center, and less delivery trucks for multiple stores. Maybe mom and pop can use the broadband to work from home. This would require a much more in depth life-cycle sustainability analysis then I can make in a comment, but it's interesting to think about... Also, they are making an effort at least: http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environment-sustainability
ReplyDeleteThe list of ways for rural communities to become more sustainable is interesting. For example, I would have never thought of having greater internet access as a way to become more sustainable, but for those living in rural communities it makes sense. Before reading the Roseland chapter I, like many others, had not really thought of sustainability other than in cities. I'm glad more information was provided on how these rural areas can actually become more sustainable.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for providing this research on sustainabile rural communities! I think you are absolutely in the majority in not having thought much about rural sustainability (myself included), but I am glad to hear that there has been some work out there in sustainable rural development. The first thought that comes to mind on the topic is that it makes sense to enlist rural communities in the sustainability movement as they have already shown an interest in living with nature by their choice of where to live. In addition, many of the typical sustainable practices we consider as options for daily life are often not as readily available in rural areas, such as public transportation. I'm looking forward to finding out more!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the principles you listed are important to rural communities in many of the same ways that they could be useful in creating a sustainable urban community. An unfortunate problem I would like to point out with this potential city center expansion is that these rural towns, from what I have experienced, aren't places with much cash floating around in the township to afford these relatively expensive upgrades. I think that if these communities could try and focus on a few of the lesser expensive rural sustainable remediation methods, on an even smaller scale, this could lead to a much more efficient path toward a sustainable rural community. And maybe, as they use these ideas to create a more efficient ecosystem and overall township, they can convert the extra cash into some of the more sexy solutions listed in creating a more sustainable community. Basically, I'm a believer that you have to start small, before we can expect this depressed nation to create expensive alternatives to live sustainably.
ReplyDeleteI had never really considered the idea that rural communities were unsustainable before this reading. In my mind a rural community is exactly what you described- having one large store that most residents have to drive 20 miles to get to. What I wonder is by making a rural community more sustainable, are we in fact making it more urban? The initiatives outlined in the Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities document do sound like good sustainability measures, however, are we truly making any impact in areas where rural sprawl is prevalent by the addition of bike paths, or by revitalizing the downtown center? Isn't the solution to making things more sustainable in instances like these to make them more urban? I want to say "no", but I just don't see how these measures would increase the sustainability of an area.
ReplyDeleteI had never considered rural communities to not really be sustainable. Coming from the classic suburb located right near one of the main epicenters of the country I always thought of rural America as a place of pristine nature and a better sense of community. Even though things are twenty minutes away, I kind of always thought of rural areas as being more sustainable. Many of them are crop growing areas and always thought in the back of my mind that they valued nature more because of its strong economic ties to their survival. But having learned more about agriculture and getting a better perspective from people like you Calley who have lived in rural America, I have come to realize that the whole country needs to move more towards sustainability. I dont think we need nor will urbanize rural areas is we make them sustainable, I think we need to make them more self sustainable so less travel is needed. Suburbs need to add sustainability models when they are created and when they are updated and restructured sustainability needs to be a main focus, as similar initiatives are integrated into urban areas. Furthermore, coming to mind, I think rural areas might be the most difficult to turn towards sustainability because of the difficulty and the strong engrained traditions that go along with rural communities. I am interested to learn more as you post about rural communities, as they have become a particularly interesting sect to me because I have never focused on them.
ReplyDelete