5 Tips for Attracting New Families to Rural Communities

There are a lot of things to love about the typical small town in the United States. Oftentimes, rustic areas have a strong sense of community and belonging. They also have a quiet, simple charm that many urban dwellers admire. Oftentimes, so-called “backwoods” towns are filled with residents who know how to work hard and make a living in a challenging environment. But despite the charms, there’s also a healthy dose of stigma surrounding pastoral living.

Small towns may seem repressive, backward, and judgmental to some. Perhaps that’s why portions of rural America continue to bleed residents to urban areas. It’s not unusual for children in such communities to move to more densely populated cities when they grow up. To avoid continued population plummets, affected towns should work tirelessly to replace those who leave. Whether you’re a rural city planner, mayor, or developer, here are five ways to attract new families to your community.

1. Invest in Your Schools

The quality of your public schools likely has a tremendous impact on both current and prospective residents. Families who want to know how safe and appealing a new living destination is often analyze the quality of its public schools first. If your community struggles with its reputation in this particular area, you’ll have a difficult time attracting new families.

There are many things rural communities can do to invest in their schools. They can start by hiring a professional to inspect local school buildings and make sure they’re structurally safe. If they’re too old and unstable, it’s important to make a plan for renovating or rebuilding them. It’s also essential to upgrade outdated play sets and make sure features like slides, ground covering, and swing sets for kids meet modern safety standards. Finally, country schools must pay competitive wages to teachers if they expect to attract quality applicants.

2. Offer Safe Recreational Activities

Too many small towns offer little to no safe recreational activities within city limits. This inevitably leads to boredom, especially among youth and young adults. If your neighborhoods seem remarkably boring, you’ll have a challenging time convincing new families to move in. By investing in safe and enjoyable outdoor recreational activities, small towns can position themselves as attractive living destinations.

Recreational opportunities provide numerous and varied benefits. In addition to attracting new families, such opportunities can also bring more tourists — and their spending money — to your rural community. Plus, providing more recreational opportunities can boost health rates and potentially increase residents’ longevity and quality of life. Examples of safe recreational activities include biking and hiking trails, public playgrounds, recreational centers, and skate parks.

3. Prioritize High-Speed Internet

Over 30% of adults in the United States report that they’re almost always online, according to Pew Research Center. A quality internet connection is now viewed by most people as a necessity instead of a luxury. Therefore, if there’s no access to high-speed internet (also known as broadband) in your town, families may decide not to move there. Broadband helps people stay connected with their friends, family, and the world around them. It also happens to be a requirement for many jobs.

Broadband is common in densely populated areas, but not in countryside communities. If little towns want to appeal to new families, they need to offer better internet options to residents. Unfortunately, broadband providers don’t want to pay to lay fiber-optic cables in areas where businesses and homes are spaced far apart. Communities can help foot the bill by forming co-ops such as those once established to bring in power and telephone services. Residents may also be willing to accept a slight increase in taxes if it means they’ll gain access to higher-quality internet.

4. Increase Housing Diversity

Some rural towns have strict zoning requirements that alienate many new families from moving there. For example, certain farming communities require homes to be built on five acres of property. Such zoning laws serve an important purpose and help prevent farming communities from losing their agricultural status and abilities. However, they can also be prohibitively expensive and labor-intensive for the average American family.

To continue attracting new families to rural towns, it’s important to increase housing diversity. Certain portions of the town could still maintain current agricultural zoning requirements. However, other areas may be rezoned to allow for a variety of home types and property sizes. When you allow for a healthy mix of duplexes, single-family homes, and multifamily buildings, you make your town a more attractive destination for diverse families.

5. Provide Access to Good Health Care

Access to quality healthcare is one of the top things families look for when considering where they want to move. If your town currently only has one doctor or healthcare facility, you may inadvertently discourage families from moving there. Rural communities can attract more quality doctors by developing solid recruitment plans and identifying and promoting their strengths. They can also leverage government programs to make it seem more attractive for quality physicians to practice in their towns.

For example, the National Health Service Corps will pay all or part of a qualifying physician’s student loan debt. However, the physician must work in a “healthcare professional shortage area” to be eligible for this program. Additionally, encouraging students from your own community to pursue a medical degree may eventually boost the quality and number of physicians in your town. This is because medical students who come from rural communities may be more likely to return to those communities after graduating.

Rural communities face an uphill battle when it comes to fighting the trend of urban migration. It can be hard to recruit new families to small towns unless those families can see a clear benefit. These tips will help make your little community a more appealing living destination for families of all types and sizes.