Topic guide
Small places face problems that big-city advice rarely fits. Distances are long, budgets are thin, and the same handful of volunteers often carries the school board, the fire department, and the festival committee. A single plant closing, a lost grocery store, or a wave of newcomers from a nearby metro can change the whole community at once.
Small places also have real advantages: people know each other, decisions can move quickly when neighbors agree, and land, landscapes, and local history are assets that cannot be copied elsewhere. The steps below focus on building local capacity, planning even where zoning is unpopular, protecting essential services and infrastructure, and growing an economy from what is already there.
Rural improvement usually starts with a small, steady group that meets regularly, sets a few concrete goals, and shares the work so it does not burn out one or two leaders. Talk honestly, in your own local language and tone, about what people value and fear, including whether the community wants to stay rural and what it would take for young people to build a life there. Invite newcomers and longtime families, farmers and town residents, and young people into the same conversation rather than letting each group form its own camp.
Many rural areas resist zoning, but planning is a separate step and almost always worth doing. A short written plan can set out which farmland, woods, and water you most want to protect, where new homes and businesses make the most sense, and what services the town or county can afford to extend. Where zoning does exist or is being considered, tools such as agricultural zoning, cluster development, and conservation easements can protect working land while still allowing reasonable growth. Compact growth near an existing town is usually cheaper to serve than development strung out along highways.
Code enforcement in small towns and rural counties works best when officials lead with the reason for a rule, such as fire safety, safe drinking water, or keeping a neighbor's junk from spilling onto the road, and aim for compliance rather than punishment. Apply the rules consistently so no one feels singled out. If your area has no property maintenance code, decide together whether one is needed; a code only exists where the local governing body has adopted one.
A grocery store, decent housing, a school, broadband, and reliable water and sewer decide whether families can stay or move in. For a missing grocery store, start with your state economic development and agriculture offices and approach local or regional independent grocers before national chains. Take stock of housing quality and supply, including homes tied up in unsettled family title, and ask which nonprofit or public partners can help with repair or new construction. Treat broadband as basic infrastructure that also makes remote work possible.
Begin with an honest look at which parts of the traditional farm, forest, mining, or tourism base are still competitive, then strengthen them while adding new options. Ideas that fit small places include value-added and direct-to-consumer farm products, energy production, small manufacturers, remote workers, and tourism built on real local attractions with the basics visitors need, such as places to eat, stay, park, and use a restroom. Look at your economy as part of a region, since jobs and shoppers cross county lines.
When a main employer or industry fades, avoid trying to rebuild the past exactly as it was. Clean up and reuse key buildings, invest in the downtown streetscape, support local entrepreneurs, and set realistic goals for your size and location. Small governments rarely have staff for all of this, so connect with your county, regional planning or development district, land-grant university Extension office, community action agency, and state agencies for technical help and funding leads.
Questions to bring
What changes where you live
Rural governance differs widely by state. In some states counties handle most land use decisions for unincorporated land; in others townships, towns, or villages do, and some states exempt agricultural land from zoning altogether. Whether a nearby city can plan or zone beyond its limits, how building and septic rules are enforced, and which regional development districts and state agencies serve your area all depend on state law. Start with your county courthouse or website to learn which government controls your property, then check your state's department of agriculture, economic or community development agency, and your land-grant university's Extension service for programs that serve small communities.
Current national resources
Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota, with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration
USDA Economic Research Service
Housing Assistance Council
National Association of Counties
From the library
Guide · Organizations & leadership
Guide · Economic & rural development
Guide · Planning, zoning & codes
Guide · Planning, zoning & codes
Guide · Organizations & leadership
Guide · Environment, transportation & sustainability
Guide · Housing & revitalization
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Guide · Housing & revitalization
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Planning, zoning & codes
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Original guidance from A Good Community: How to Make and Keep It, owned and edited by Nancy Thompson (formerly Useful Community Development), shared with permission. Community Compass notes and updates are our own and have not been reviewed by Nancy Thompson.
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