Livable communities in rural America

Small towns can be urban

Jon Boyd, Aug 29, 10.

Transportation for America has started publishing a twelve part series on rural communities aiming for greater livability:

What does “livability” mean in a smaller town or city? Some would have us believe that livability is a foreign concept for our small towns or rural areas or that it’s exclusively an urban idea; a pernicious plot to eliminate car ownership.

The reality couldn’t be farther from the truth.

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The exact definition may differ place to place, but there are core values that ring true in communities of all sizes. Livability is about providing people, including seniors and those who cannot afford to drive everywhere, better choices for traveling throughout their communities. It’s about encouraging growth in historic small town Main Streets across America and a high quality of life with ample green space, biking or walking paths, and shopping, restaurants or health care located nearby and easily accessible.

While some of these communities face formidable threats – from job losses and shrinking populations to disappearing farmland and strained resources – their leaders have forged collaborations and created plans that are growing economies, benefiting people and protecting the land and lifestyles treasured by residents and non-residents alike. And no matter what skeptics in Washington say, livability is a value that rings true in these communities.

Huron, SD

In Huron, many older residents are able to access groceries and services because of People’s Transit, and the town today is home to its first-ever transit center.

Huron is the county seat of Beadle County, at the midpoint of eastern South Dakota. The city, whose motto is “it’s a brand new day,” was named after the Huron Native American tribe and is home to the South Dakota State Fair, held annually five days before Labor Day. Its population was about 12,000, according to the 2000 Census.

Temperatures in Huron can drop as low as 25 degrees below zero, and with a large senior population, many residents were worried about how their older neighbors in this rural community could access life’s essentials without transportation options. This led, thirty years ago, to the Huron Area Senior Center’s purchase of a cargo van from a federal surplus warehouse. The Board had to round up passenger seats from a car dealer in Aberdeen just to ensure older residents could actually ride it.

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Menominee Indian Reservation, WI

The Menominee Indian tribe’s reservation includes almost 250,000 acres of largely rural and forested land near Green Bay and has a rich history in the state of Wisconsin, with a treaty dating back to 1854.

With hundreds of miles of rivers and streams and dozens of native plant species, transportation was a significant challenge. Menominee Regional Public Transit was established in 1982 because people needed help getting around the reservation and accessing services, according to Shawn Klemens, Menominee Transit Director.

“We had so many people without vehicles, and with long distances to travel just to get to the nearest grocery store, transit made sense,” Klemens said.

Continue reading about Menominee Indian Reservation, WI

Cache Valley, UT

Through a unique community planning process called Envision Cache Valley, residents in Cache Valley, Utah established strong benchmarks for preserving farmland, maintaining clean air and welcoming new development and housing.

Envision Cache Valley is modeled after Envision Utah, a similar statewide process widely praised in planning circles that operates under the banner “how we grow matters.”

Valley residents were motivated to take charge of their future in response to estimates that 2040 population levels would likely double to a quarter-million from present day 125,000. Air quality, a healthy economy and smart use of existing resources were identified as key priorities. The Cache Valley Regional Council, an agreement between Cache Valley jurisdictions and officials from both Cache County, Utah and neighboring Franklin County, Idaho, constituted the beginning of the visioning process.

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Laconia, NH

Laconia worked with the U.S. EPA on three neighborhood plans to enhance the safety and accessibility of their streets and add more vitality to the community.

Laconia, New Hampshire is a longtime tourist destination and hotspot for vacation homes and retirees. However, the absence of a longer-term plan was putting a strain on year-round residents and had the potential to leave core neighborhoods in the dust.

In 2006, Laconia officials applied to participate in the U.S. EPA’s Smart Growth Implementation Assistance program. The EPA assisted residents and staff in a visioning process that eventually resulted in a comprehensive Master Plan.

“I think what the EPA process did is it really got the creative juices flowing,” said Shanna Saunders, Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Laconia. “It gave the decision- makers and citizens the energy and the enthusiasm and the excitement to move forward with those ideas on their own.”

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Breckinridge, CO

Breckenridge is a resort destination for thousands of vacationers every year, but was unaffordable to the people working in the community until an effort between the EPA and the Colorado Department of Health launched new affordable housing options.

Local residents employed in the resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado were being squeezed. The median cost for a single-family home in Breckenridge was $725,000, out of reach for the resort cooks, teachers and police officers, whom Mayor Sam Mamula described as “both the economic engine and the soul of the town.” Many workers had 45 minute commutes or longer.

Residents in the Wellington Neighborhood of Breckenridge chose to repeal restrictive zoning policies and reclaim a 22-acre brownfield site. With funding from the U.S. EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health, officials approved 122 new market-rate and affordable homes built with a traditional neighborhood aesthetic. Twenty of those acres are dedicated to open space.

Continue reading about Breckenridge, CO

(Photo credit: Uploaded by Transportation for America)