New Geography

Tag: Heartland

  • Do higher gas prices push people from small towns?

    The Kansas City Star published an article and video package over the weekend suggesting that because of high gas prices, the “country could see a migration that would greatly reduce the population of Small Town America.” This may be news to those at the Star, but this exodus from many small towns and farming communities has continued unabated for decades, and gas costs are a minor factor in the equation.

    What really matters is proximity to employment. Living in a small town is a conscious lifestyle choice, and while the dollar cost of a long commute is a factor, it’s not as important as the time cost trade off. Lower density areas already offer shorter commute times than metro areas.

    Take our extreme commuter example from the KC Star article. Even if he is paying another $200 a month in gas costs, he’s likely saving over $500 a month by choosing to live in a small town. Besides, he’s already chosen years ago to make the daily time investment in his commute.

    On top of that, gas prices in the rural heartland are some of the cheapest in the nation. If fuel costs are the primary motivator, where is he going to go?

    Increased fuel costs certainly will cause us to refine our lifestyles in favor of conservation. But, if you’ve already chosen to live in a certain type of place, you move in favor of a new type of lifestyle or to find work. In our nation’s small towns far from job clusters, hanging out a shingle reading “We have $2 a gallon gas!” will have no effect.

  • Heartland Development Strategy

    From its inception as a nation, America’s great advantage over its global rivals has stemmed largely from the successful development of its vast interior. The Heartland has been both the incubator of national identity and an outlet for the entrepreneurial energies of both immigrants and those living in dense urban areas.

    The term “Heartland” is commonly used to describe the region west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. This region constitutes the primary focus of this report, although we believe our policy prescriptions also apply to other parts of the country that are culturally similar to the Great Plains and the Midwest, including the inland valleys of the Pacific Northwest and California, as well as parts of central Florida and Pennsylvania.

    Historically, and with some exceptions — notably the South — the Heartland was dominated by capitalist principles and shaped by the forces of innovation, competition, and a continuous search for maximum economic return. The Heartland contributed significantly to America’s development as a global economic power. Over the past century, however, the role of the Heartland declined, as the United States evolved from a primarily agricultural to an industrial and finally an information-based economy. With the move toward manufactured goods and high-end services, the focus of economic development shifted from the agricultural interior toward the great metropolitan regions.

    Download “Rebuilding America’s Productive Economy: A Heartland Development Strategy” Report commissioned by the New America Foundation.