rural Iowa
How 3 Iowa towns are getting smaller but smarter through Iowa State program
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A handful of Iowa communities and a group of Iowa State University researchers are trying to demonstrate that less can, in fact, be more, and small can, in fact, be vibrant. If you’re smart about it. In an outgrowth of community surveys begun a quarter century ago, ISU researchers have identified what they call “Shrink Smart” communities. Like so many others, particularly smaller free-standing rural communities, they have steadily lost population since the 1980s recession and farm crisis. With support from the Solutions Journalism Network
Yet, the Shrink Smart communities, according to survey data, are viewed by their residents as having a high quality of life.