Economic and climate trends are increasing pressures on rural regions as people relocate for better health and opportunity. Rural places have the potential to be receiving communities for many different groups, like remote workers, retirees, second homeowners, and refugees.

However, there’s limited housing stock in many rural areas and a tradition of lower-density, smaller communities (which can create resistance to new development and increased density). As a result, wealthier newcomers often put significant price pressures on housing costs, and local residents can be displaced into substandard housing or pushed outside of the community altogether.

The same factors can be true with lower income households moving to a region for economic opportunity both from within the US or from other countries. Finding safe housing in these regions that have not traditionally grown much is difficult. Additionally, new residents can change the makeup and culture of a community, potentially creating friction between new and longtime populations.

This growing trend of migration means that Rural Development Hubs and policymakers in rural places and Native nations have the potential to redefine and measure community strength and development success to ensure more equitable outcomes. We have seen first-hand how Hub organizations are working to increase a shared sense of belonging, decrease economic and racial inequality, and reduce poverty while building local wealth, sustainability, and resilience.

What does it take for rural communities to balance new residents, retain longtime residents and cultural traditions, and develop more equitable local economies?

Bonita Robertson-Hardy, Aspen CSG’s Co-Executive Director, moderated a conversation of 70+ rural leaders to explore this topic further. The ideas and resources shared in this blog arose from this wide-ranging conversation, including a networking bulletin board to facilitate connections and collaboration beyond the event.

Leadership and Welcoming Communities 

Donna Daniels of the Brushy Fork Institute started the conversation by discussing how leadership development is an excellent tool for supporting communities looking to attract new residents or those facing an influx of new residents. She shared that Social, Political, Human, and Cultural capitals from the community capitals framework help center the work on leadership development. Holding workshops for residents and coaching community teams can create a vision of what the community will look like in the future and set milestones to achieve that vision. Participants generally agreed that advancing the quality of life in a community creates better economic opportunities.

Other participants shared how community conversations intentionally focused on welcoming and belonging can help longtime residents understand why new residents are essential for the community and economy. To center equity in the conversation, organizers need to ask what can be done to support the unique needs of new residents to allow them to be full participants in the community. The Thrive Rural Framework has an entire building block focused on welcoming all to the community.

One participant shared that welcoming work is also narrative change work and that bridge-building and storytelling are needed to face community resistance to change. Another suggested how, in communities with an anti-housing mindset, finding common ground around preserving existing housing can be the first step to creating a stable housing stock.

Working at a regional level can also advance welcoming and belonging work and work to find a balance among newcomers and longtime residents. Programs like the Economic Recovery Corps and organizations like Rural Development Hubs intentionally think and act regionally to achieve scale in their efforts to promote equitable development. One participant also suggested that regional government councils can support the effort to scale up action around migration and climate action. Regional councils like this one in North Carolina can share resources and provide services that benefit the entire region and state.

Housing Development

The availability and quality of local housing stock are crucial to the discussion on migration and displacement. Rob Riley, CEO of the Northern Forest Center (NFS) shared how rural New England’s growing economy necessitates a larger workforce. However, young people have been leaving the region for years, and it does not have an adequate workforce to meet basic needs. To change this, the NFS is actively recruiting and retaining young people around lifestyle and workforce needs. However, the lack of affordable housing for middle-market buyers limits the effort. So, NFS developed an innovative capital fund and entered the housing space as a developer in partnership with local organizations and municipalities.

Rob suggested that rural communities “want it all” in terms of strong economic development, but the supply chain of housing is a missing link. This indicates that we need to shift to developing and building housing that is affordable when it hits the market without subsidies.

Rural placemaking efforts, like the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, often focus on housing development as a part of a redevelopment effort. One participant shared how Rural Studio is building affordable and beautiful housing in the rural South. Others emphasized how heirs’ property, an all too common and discriminatory legal situation where homeowners do not hold full useable title to their land or homes, can reduce housing availability and force families to migrate away from communities they’ve called home for generations.

Climate Pressures and Opportunities

Andrew Crosson of Invest Appalachia offered the insight that climate is a cross-sector issue. They released a report on climate change in the region that identifies the physical changes coming to Appalachia and notes that the area is well-positioned to be a climate migrant-receiving geography.

People with means are the first to move, and this seems to be an exciting opportunity for development. But again, the lack of affordable housing in the region makes this a challenge.

Having welcoming and inclusive communities is crucial, but so is holding space for already-existing communities and their traditions. Invest Appalachia is using capital in innovative ways to support regional enterprise development, housing, and micropolitan downtown development.

They aim to get ahead of the curve to develop downtowns so that local communities retain ownership and control of regional and local assets, another of the Thrive Rural Framework’s building blocks. To take advantage of a potential development boom, local people and organizations must have a stake in ownership of land, businesses, and assets.

Other participants shared how climate change is already forcing migration and shared a story of a Tribe in rural Washington State relocating to higher ground because of sea level rise and erosion. Participants suggested that massive undertakings like the movement of an entire community need to be better understood, and more support is needed to retain community and culture during this process. Another participant suggested that Indigenous corporations in Alaska have developed resources and know-how around this topic and could be a potential resource to communities in the lower 48 doing similar work.

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Shared Resources

Aspen CSG does not necessarily endorse these resources, but we look forward to exploring them with you.

Devin Deaton, Action Learning Manager with the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, curated this learning reflection. Open Field sessions inform and are informed by Aspen CSG’s Thrive Rural Framework, a tool that aims to help communities and Native nations across the rural United States become healthy places where each and every person belongs, lives with dignity, and thrives. To join the next Open Field session, register for our mailing list.