| Contents |
1. Introduction -- Previous Research -- What Is a Small City or Town, and Who Lives in Them? -- What Does It Mean for a Small Town to Be Isolated, and Why Is That Important? -- Selecting the Case Study Cities -- Similarities and Dissimilarities between the Economic Forces and Solutions Facing Large Cities and Small Towns -- 2. Fifty-One of America's Small and Isolated Cities Examined -- Northwest Region -- Emmett, Idaho -- Rupert, Idaho -- Lewistown, Montana -- Lincoln, Oregon -- Ephrata, Washington -- Cody, Wyoming -- Douglas, Wyoming -- North Central -- Algona, Iowa -- Detroit Lakes, Minnesota -- International Falls, Minnesota -- Montevideo, Minnesota -- Holdredge, Nebraska -- Sidney, Nebraska -- Valley City, North Dakota -- Great Lakes -- Carmi, Illinois -- Kingsford, Michigan -- Ashland, Wisconsin -- Rice Lake, Wisconsin -- Northeast -- Caribou, Maine -- Titusville, Pennsylvania -- Southeast -- Arab, Alabama -- Hamilton, Alabama -- Thomaston, Georgia -- Kosciusko, Mississippi -- Brevard, North Carolina -- Roxboro, North Carolina -- Covington, Tennessee -- Lexington, Tennessee -- McKenzie, Tennessee -- Galax, Virginia -- South Boston, Virginia -- Elkins, West Virginia -- South Central -- Pocahontas, Arkansas -- Colby, Kansas -- Fort Scott, Kansas -- Charleston, Missouri -- Chillicothe, Missouri -- Perryville, Missouri -- Breckenridge, Texas -- Elsa, Texas -- Pecos, Texas -- West and Southwest -- Winslow, Arizona -- Fort Bragg, California -- Yreka, California -- Delta, Colorado -- Gunnison, Colorado -- Lamar, Colorado -- Salida, Colorado -- Winnemucca, Nevada -- Taos, New Mexico -- Vernal, Utah -- 3. Conclusions about growth in America's small and isolated cities -- The Relevance of Lessons Learned in Micropolitan Cities to Those That Are Small and Isolated -- Will Technology Enable Small Towns to Survive? -- Are There Advantages for Employers in Small, Isolated Cities? -- Why Should We Care about America's Cities That Are Small and Isolated? -- Special Considerations for Small, Isolated Cities and Towns -- The Brain Drain and Postsecondary Education -- If You Build It, Will They Really Come? -- 4. A Special Case Study: Raton, New Mexico -- What Happens to a City without Jobs? -- Interview with Paula Murphy, Publisher of the Raton Range -- 5. Issues for Future Economic Growth, by City and Region. |
| Abstract |
"The economic history of the recent decade has been volatile at best, and devastating at its worst. The effects have tended to be most severe in the small, isolated towns of America. The Economic Survival of America's Isolated Small Towns presents a detailed discussion of the economic challenges facing these small towns, looking at why some have survived, while others have not. Through 51 case studies, this book gives a voice to the real, living realities and administrative strategies of small-town America. The Economic Survival of America's Isolated Small Towns focuses on towns that have fewer than 10,000 residents and are further than 50 miles from another larger city. Based on interviews with the leaders of 51 small towns, the author shows how to plan and implement economic growth strategies, equally applicable to those communities that are trying to retain their strength as to those that are trying to rebuild following a downturn. The case studies convey, from one town leader to the other, which actions fail and which succeed. The Economic Survival of America's Isolated Small Towns aims to present basic lessons learned by these small-town leaders that can benefit leaders in other towns as they confront similar issues and situations. Those charged with establishing public policy--either at the federal or state levels--should find the conclusions valuable as they plan for the next generation of public economic policies"--Back cover. |
