Rural Sociologists have identified a number of different types of rural communities, which have arisen as a result of changing economic trends within rural regions of industrial nations. The basic trend seems to be one in which communities are required to become entrepreneurial. Those that lack the sort of characteristics mentioned below, are forced to either seek out their niche or accept eventual economic defeat. These towns focus on

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

whilst bidding for business and government operations, such as

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

or off-site

data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of ''information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an o ...

. For instance,

International Falls, Minnesota International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy R ...

markets itself as a site for sub-zero temperature experiments,

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and ...

has attracted three

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese firms,

Freeport, Maine Freeport is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Freeport is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England City and town area. The population was 8,737 at the 2020 census. Once home to a prominent shipbuilding i ...

has become a center for

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

companies such as L. L. Bean, and Mobile, Arizona has become the home of a number of solid-waste

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

Academic communities

The primary employers in an academic community are

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

research laboratories A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

, or

corporate training Training and development involves improving Organizational effectiveness, the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as being related to immediate changes in effectiveness via organized in ...

facilities. These academic institutions attract people from other regions, bringing new

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

into the area. Academic institutions in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

s are very much like

in that the economic success of the community depends upon the success of the institution. However, academic institutions primarily offer medium-skilled or professional jobs, while factories tend toward low-skilled work. Examples:

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

;

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...

;

Plainfield, Vermont Plainfield, a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States was incorporated in 1867. The population was 1,236 at the 2020 census. Plainfield is the location of Goddard College. Geography Plainfield is located at . According to the United ...

Area Trade-Centers

The

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

allows rural residents to travel farther, in less time, for goods and services. This, along with decreasing rural population, reduces the importance of the rural store. As businesses relocate from other communities, one town will become the trade center for its region, sometimes constructing a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

. Generally, businesses in a trade-center town, except for those in competition with the mall, will benefit from the mall's presence as shoppers spill over. However, business in nearby towns will suffer as shoppers converge on the town with the greatest variety of stores. Examples: West Burlington, Iowa;

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa and Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. The population was 7,474 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and was estimated to be 7,920 in 2022. H ...

Exurbs

See:

Commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

Exurb An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburbs, suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and rela ...

Government centers

Government in rural regions is becoming increasingly consolidated, so that a small number of towns are centers of government activity, while the rest are devoid of government infrastructure. These centers include state and local capitals, and areas with

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

s or

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

s. Centralized public administration focuses public-sector employment on a single community, assisting it over its neighbors. Benefits for the government center include improved public services, increased efficiency, and economic savings. Examples:

Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,072 as of the 2020 census. History Lorton is named for a village in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, in England. Joseph Plaske ...

;

Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...

Recreation communities

Recreation communities ("tourist towns") define some local feature, usually a historic site or scenic vista, as a "natural resource" and market this to

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Travelers will then spend money on food, hotels, and the like, which brings capital into the town. Examples:

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood (Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as the county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its ...

; Harper's Ferry, West Virginia;

Tombstone, Arizona Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Prospecting, prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last ...

;

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...

;

Pleasant Hill, Kentucky Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, United States of America, USA, is the site of a Shakers, Shaker Religion, religious community that was active from 1805 to 1910. Following a Historic preservation, preservationist effort that began in 1961, the site, no ...

; Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

Retirement communities

Retirement communities tend to house large numbers of elderly people who have left the workforce. These retirees bring

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

, and savings which infuse the area with capital. Many rural

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

s do not have enough patients to support their operational budgets, but those near retirement communities can make up for this by focusing on

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, culture, cultural, psychology, psychological, cognitive, and biology, biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Ancient Greek, Greek ('), meaning "o ...

. Retirement communities often have

income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...

between local residents and those who have migrated from cities. Examples:

Green Valley, Arizona Green Valley is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 22,616 at the 2020 census. Geography Green Valley i ...

; Heritage Village, Connecticut. See also: demographic history of the United States,

rural sociology Rural sociology is a field of sociology traditionally associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural areas. It is an active academic field in much of the world, originating in the United States in the 1910s with close ties ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

References

External links

UK Commission for Rural Communities - publicationsUSDA Rural Development - PublicationsJournal of Rural Community Psychology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Types Of Rural Communities Rural geography Types of communities