| Rural communities across the United States have been undergoing dramatic economic restructuring. As a result, many rural communities are struggling to recover from the closure or downsizing of manufacturing facilities and to implement economic development programs. The goal of this study was to gain new insights into community, organizational, and economic factors that underlie effective rural community response to economic distress. The study covers communities with populations between 500 and 10,000 in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Data come from a survey of local government officials of all towns in the six states with populations between 500 and 10,000. Surveys were mailed to 2,118 towns during the... |
