Micropolitans: Rural Amerca, Version 2.0

Small rural towns get a new name -- and new attention.

1 minute read

June 20, 2003, 7:00 AM PDT

"Micropolitans are the name [the Census Bureau] affixed earlier this month to 565 rural areas across America that are beginning to look a little citified. They range from Abbeville, La., to Zanesville, Ohio, and include everything from ski resorts to retirement communities... More important, they serve as a new way of looking at rural America and where it's headed. That direction is something observers are still figuring out. Since micropolitans are countrified places that work like metro areas, it's not yet clear whether they represent a new urban environment arising in the hinterland or an improved rural America, version 2.0"

Thanks to Chris Steins

Read the full story: Small rural towns get new name - and new attention

Thursday, June 19, 2003 in The Christian Science Monitor

Social / Demographics United States

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