What is your definition of rural? Whatever it is, Benjamin Winchester, a sociologist who focuses on rural living, wants it to be a definition that works for you. “Rural has got to work for everyone, not just certain people’s ideas of what rural is. And we don’t have a good idea of what rural even is, because there are so many definitions.”
But instead of confusion with so many definitions, Winchester sees opportunities. He’s a numbers guy who is passionate about all the assets and potential for rural communities. His keynote at the 19th annual Back to Basics event on February 15 will likely bring to light some potential in your own community you’ve never even considered. Winchester will address the opportunities of moving on from outdated narratives and expectations about rural living into the full potential by sharing the data and his own passion for rural development.
What Are Some of the Numbers?
Three-quarters of homes in rural communities are going to turn over in the next 15 to 20 years as residents age. Winchester points out: “We’ve never had this kind of demographic transition before.”
Average household sizes will increase as we move from 1-2 people moving out/on with 3-5 people moving in. These are also multi-family and/or multi-generational. “I’ve data on all these traits of the new generations. The return to multi-generational housing is one of the really interesting trends,” Winchester says.
95 percent of rural people are NOT engaged in agriculture or an ag-related field. Winchester sees the positivity in this: “This diversity of employment makes for even more opportunities.”
The Widely Exaggerated Death of Rural
In all of Winchester’s work, his emphatic belief that rural is not dying shines through. “If we were dying, I should be able to find a home, wherever I want. There are no homes.”
He illustrates this with the example of how people who gained the opportunity to work remotely during the pandemic wanted to move to rural areas, but could not find housing. “A lot of folks were surprised that the communities were already full. “I felt like ‘welcome to the party.’ We in rural Minnesota have been welcoming people in for 30-50 years.”
But just how the welcoming goes is a narrative that may need changing. Winchester offers the illustration of newcomers who move into a small town: “They don't know anybody; it could be very alienating. You don't know who to go to for things. Like what happens when my pipe bursts at 1 am? Who am I calling?”
One time while asking this question to a rural audience, Winchester got the response that if they don't know how to fix their leaky pipe, they shouldn't be living in this place. Winchester disagrees. He points out that picking up such DIY skills is possible in a number of ways–through YouTube and message boards like Reddit–but there is also learning from other people in the new community or region. “Rampant individualism gets us here, but community will keep us here,” he says.
The Positive Rural Migration Today
Winchester highlights multiple positive changes in migration that many may not be aware of. For example, the housing shortage in rural towns, while an issue that needs addressing, is at the same time definitely a positive indicator. “You see how people are moving in–people love your town. They're all moving in the moment housing opens up.”
Winchester cautions against assuming how people want to be plugged into their new communities. “I like to explore the idea that we treat a lot of newcomers like warm bodies,” Winchester said, describing how often we want to sign someone up for serving with the local economic development group or the chamber ASAP. Community involvement is a narrative especially ripe for re-writing.
Lest you think Winchester’s work is only about numbers–he also thinks about culture. The multiple definitions of rural life are in no small way tied to the ever-changing culture in rural areas. He warns about the importance of not following a traditional metaphor around migration–that a new country or new community is a melting pot, and new people need to melt into the existing pot.
“We have used that analogy for decades to talk about the old culture. And that implies that we have a local culture that trumps and dominates what happens when people move in.” Winchester doesn’t believe in this model of local culture. “That is an historical notion. We do have cultures in Europe that are hundreds of years old, restrained by no transportation.Their culture was built over hundreds of years in one place.”
Winchester contrasts that with a very different situation in the United States–we're new. “We've had basically groups of people with similar occupations live together over time. I don't really see us as a melting pot as much as a stew. We're constantly ladling people in and out. Some others use the salad analogy. But either way, I still like the idea that there's something bigger that we are a part of, and there's like this milieu connecting us within this stew.”
Changing Shape of Community Involvement
Winchester describes how our organizations, our structures–which are needed–can be very unattractive to the new generations. He is disheartened by the assumption that newcomers will gladly sit through group meetings with ““five thousand committee reports.” He finds those reports are like tests in trust, "Like in order to trust committee people, you make them stand up and talk in front of everybody. We need to get past how we’ve operated organizationally previously to allow people to feel like they have a voice in our organizations today in nonstructural ways.”
He points out that smartphones as well as other technologies bring multiple ways we can contribute to our groups. It is no longer just a you-gotta-show-up-in-our-meeting model. “If we can just really see the newcomers there is a lot to learn, because they reflect your change,” Winchester says. “They are where you're going, where your community is going. We know our nonprofits are growing and they're growing because they look different. It's not the old groups that are getting bigger. Those are the ones that are stewed up, right? Ladeled out.”
Economic Diversity and the Rewards of Thinking Regionally
One long-time stereotype is that a rural economy is mainly about agriculture. The numbers say otherwise. “Rural is more diverse economically than ever before,” says Winchester. He states this bodes well for its prosperity and growth. “I do not want us reliant upon a singular industry like agriculture which has whims annually in terms of income.” Winchester points out that only 5 percent of rural residents are engaged in agriculture or an ag-related field. He is a non-agriculture rural sociologist. In fact, the two largest industries in rural areas are education and health services. “We are more diverse economically than ever before.”
Moreover, the physical limits of a small town are no longer limiting for many residents. Another trend Winchester studies is how more modern groups are regional, moving from a broad focus to a narrow focus. New groups, often non-profits, are being created all the time. “But meanwhile, we have a layering issue,” Winchester says. He describes this as conversations that happened here and conversations that happened there, but there is not awareness of the other, overlap, or working together. “The old timers may say, ‘New people don't care about my community, because they're not showing up in our meetings.’ My response is: oh yeah, but you're not showing up in theirs. You don't even know where they are.”
Winchester sees this as an important transition: what types of nonprofits are being created? “Because that reflects who you are too. And then how can you bridge those groups between the old and the new? It's important to connect those groups so the established population isn’t continuing to bad mouth the new people about them not caring.
He traces it back to stereotypes where people believe they know “everyone” in a small town. “But you really don't,” he says, “You barely overlap with some people, especially in civic life or if you aren’t involved regionally and now your local places may suffer for that.” This is solved, in Winchester’s view, when we directly make an effort about doing the work to connect them, called bridging capital. “It’s all about how the world is constantly changing. So the difference between one community to another is how you respond to those changes, how well you work together.”
“Rewriting the Rural Narrative” will be Benjamin Winchester’s keynote address at the 19th Annual Back to Basics, Feb. 15 at Pine River-Backus school. Later that same day, he will lead the workshop “The Middle of Everywhere” which will explore the benefits and opportunities of a region-wide view of rural life through an asset-based community development exercise during the workshop. The 8:45 am keynote is free and open to the public–no registration required. The workshop will require registration. Learn more at www.happydancingturtle.org/back-to-basics
Comments