Between the Country and the Concrete: Rediscovering the Rural–Urban Fringe

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff S. Sharp ◽  
Jill K. Clark

Substantial U.S. population growth in relatively rural areas adjacent to large urban areas is sparking renewed interest in the rural–urban fringe. This research identifies some of the roots of the rural–urban fringe concept and reviews recent scholarly interest in the related exurban concept. Analysis of primary and secondary data is conducted to examine the fringe in relation to both urban/suburban areas and rural areas of Ohio, seeking to determine the extent to which the fringe is similar to or dissimilar from the suburbs or more rural areas. Comparisons are made across a number of ecological, occupational, and sociocultural attributes. Differences between incorporated (cities and villages) and unincorporated (township) areas are also considered. Findings support the notion of the fringe being distinct from the suburbs, with more modest differences compared to more rural places. Practical implications of this research are discussed as are future research needs for further understanding an increasingly important settlement area of the United States.

Author(s):  
Chad Berry

An overview of Euro-American internal migration in the United States between 1940 and 1980 explores the overall population movement away from rural areas to cities and suburban areas. Although focused on white Americans and their migrations, there are similarities to the Great Migration of African Americans, who continued to move out of the South during the mid-20th century. In the early period, the industrial areas in the North and West attracted most of the migrants. Mobilization for World War II loosened rural dwellers who were long kept in place by low wages, political disfranchisement, and low educational attainment. The war also attracted significant numbers of women to urban centers in the North and West. After the war, migration increased, enticing white Americans to become not just less rural but also increasingly suburban. The growth of suburbs throughout the country was prompted by racial segregation in housing that made many suburban areas white and earmarked many urban areas for people of color. The result was incredible growth in suburbia: from 22 million living in those areas in 1940 to triple that in 1970. Later in the period, as the Steelbelt rusted, the rise of the West as a migration magnet was spurred by development strategies, federal investment in infrastructure, and military bases. Sunbelt areas were making investments that stood ready to recruit industries and of course people, especially from Rustbelt areas in the North. By the dawn of the 21st century, half of the American population resided in suburbs.


The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Johnson ◽  
Dante J. Scala

Abstract This study of the 2018 congressional midterms demonstrates how voting patterns and political attitudes vary across a spectrum of urban and rural areas in the United States. Rural America is no more a monolith than is urban America. The rural-urban gradient is better represented by a continuum than a dichotomy. This is evident in the voting results in 2018, just as it was in 2016. We found that the political tipping point lies beyond major metropolitan areas, in the suburban counties of smaller metropolitan areas. Democrats enjoyed even greater success in densely populated urban areas in 2018 than in 2016. Residents of these urban areas display distinctive and consistent social and political attitudes across a range of scales. At the other end of the continuum in remote rural areas, Republican candidates continued to command voter support despite the challenging national political environment. Voters in these rural regions expressed social and political attitudes diametrically opposed to their counterparts in large urban cores.


2011 ◽  
Vol 01 (04) ◽  
pp. 811-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Green

In 2007 and 2008, the mortgage market failed. It failed in a number of dimensions: Default rates rose to their highest levels since the great depression, and mortgage liquidity ground to a halt. This failure has produced recriminations: Blame has been laid at the feet of borrowers, brokers, lenders, investment banks, investors and government and quasi-government entities that guaranteed mortgages. These recent events have produced an important debate: Whether the U.S. mortgage market requires a federal guarantee in order to best serve consumers, investors and markets. My view is that such a guarantee is necessary. I will divide my argument into four areas: (1) I will argue that the United States has had a history of providing guarantees, either implicit or explicit, regardless of its professed position on the matter. This phenomenon goes back to the origins of the republic. It is in the best interest of the country to acknowledge the existence of such guarantees, and to price them appropriately before, rather than after, they become necessary. (2) I will argue that in times of economic stress, such as now, the absence of government guarantees would lead to an absence of mortgages. (3) I will argue that a purely "private" market would likely not provide a 30 year fixed rate pre-payable mortgage. I think that this is no longer a particularly controversial statement; what is more controversial is whether such a mortgage is necessary — I will argue that it is. (4) I will argue that in the absence of a federal guarantee, the price and quantity of mortgages will vary across geography. In particular, rural areas will have less access to mortgage credit that urban areas, central cities will have less access than suburbs. Condominiums already are treated less favorably than detached houses, and this difference is likely to get larger in the absence of a guarantee.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon B. Schmidt ◽  
Guihyun Park ◽  
Jessica Keeney ◽  
Sonia Ghumman

Work anecdotes and popular media programs such as Office Space, The Office, and Dilbert suggest that there are a number of workers in the United States who feel a sense of apathy toward their workplace and their job. This article develops these ideas theoretically and provides validity evidence for a scale of job apathy across two studies. Job apathy is defined as a type of selective apathy characterized by diminished motivation and affect toward one’s job. A scale of job apathy was developed and data from a sample of currently or recently employed college students supported two dimensions: apathetic action and apathetic thought. Job apathy was found to be empirically distinct from clinical apathy, negative affectivity, cynicism, and employee engagement. Job apathy was also found to have incremental validity in the prediction of personal initiative, withdrawal, and organizational deviance. Practical implications and future research directions for job apathy are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110002
Author(s):  
David Rhys Axon ◽  
Melissa Johnson ◽  
Brittany Abeln ◽  
Stephanie Forbes ◽  
Elizabeth J. Anderson ◽  
...  

Background: Patients living in rural communities often experience pronounced health disparities, have a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, and poorer access to care compared to urban areas. To address these unmet healthcare service needs, an established, academic-based MTM provider created a novel, collaborative program to provide comprehensive, telephonic services to patients living in rural Arizona counties. Objective: This study assessed the program effectiveness and described differences in health process and outcome measures (e.g., clinical outcomes, gaps in care for prescribed medications, medication-related problems) between individuals residing in different rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) groups (urban, micropolitan, and small town) in rural Arizona counties. Methods: Subjects eligible for inclusion were 18 years or older with diabetes and/or hypertension, living in rural Arizona counties. Data were collected on: demographic characteristics, medical conditions, clinical values, gaps in care, medication-related problems (MRPs), and health promotion guidance. Subjects were analyzed using 3 intra-county RUCA levels (i.e., urban, micropolitan, and small town). Results: A total of 384 patients were included from: urban (36.7%), micropolitan (19.3%) and small town (44.0%) areas. Positive trends were observed for clinical values, gaps in care, and MRPs between initial and follow-up consultations. Urban dwellers had significantly lower average SBP values at follow-up than those from small towns (p < 0.05). A total of 192 MRPs were identified; 75.0% were resolved immediately or referred to providers and 16.7% were accepted by prescribers. Conclusion: This academic-community partnership highlights the benefits of innovative collaborative programs, such as this, for individuals living in underserved, rural areas.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Gall ◽  
Jack Fiorito

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to give a critique of the extant literature on union commitment and participation in order to develop remedies to identified weaknessesDesign/methodology/approachThe paper uses a critical assessment of extant literature.FindingsA number of critical deficiencies exist in the literature to which remedies are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThe remedies need testing through empirical research.Practical implicationsFuture research needs to have different research foci and questions.Social implicationsWith a reorientation of future research on union commitment, participation and leadership, unions may be better able to benefit from academic research in the area.Originality/valueThe paper suggests that a reorientation of future research on union commitment, participation and leadership will allow more incisive and more robust contributions to be made to understanding unions as complex social organisms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branko Kordić ◽  
Matija Vukovski ◽  
Marko Budić ◽  
Marko Špelić ◽  
Josip Barbača ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;The earthquake with magnitude ML=6.2 that occurred on 29th December 2020 has caused significant material damage to objects and infrastructure in the towns of Petrinja, Sisak,Glina and the surrounding area. According to the satellite interferometry data, the coseismic and postseismic deformation area covers around 500 square kilometers. The existing geodetic benchmarks have been set in the affected towns, and their coordinates have been determined based on previous GPS campaigns. The GPS network was set up and adjusted at the State Geodetic Administration's request for geodetic monitoring of infrastructure and cadastral projects. These points are not primarily intended for high accuracy measurements at the level of a few millimeters, so their accuracy and the absolute shift concerning geodynamic processes in the region should be taken into account. Nevertheless, the data obtained by their observation after the earthquake can provide valuable information about the horizontal and vertical displacements with a certain level of confidence. The field survey has detected disappearance of a large number of benchmarks and some valuable information has been lost. Still, 58 points were found and observed and it has been concluded that 52 points are reliable and can be used for future research. Because the network of benchmarks is not developed in rural areas, there is a gap in the distribution of benchmarks in affected area. Therefore, the additional data was collected using the benchmarks established for the engineering and cadastral projects and studies. From a total of 67 points that have been found and observed, 42 points will be used. Along with the data collected in urban areas, there will be a total of 94 benchmarks. The accuracy of the geodetic benchmark measurements is at the centimeter level, while the values of deformation are at the level of a few decimeters. Therefore, the obtained data can be used to better assess the displacement recorded during the 29 December 2020 event. In the future, field research will focus on finding additional benchmarks to reach a better spatial distribution.&lt;/p&gt;


Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2661-2667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Grimaud ◽  
Yacine Lachkhem ◽  
Fei Gao ◽  
Cindy Padilla ◽  
Mélanie Bertin ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose— Recent findings suggest that in the United States, stroke incidence is higher in rural than in urban areas. Similar analyses in other high-income countries are scarce with conflicting results. In 2008, the Brest Stroke Registry was started in western France, an area that includes about 366 000 individuals living in various urban and rural settings. Methods— All new patients with stroke included in the Brest Stroke Registry from 2008 to 2013 were classified as residing in town centers, suburbs, isolated towns, or rural areas. Poisson regression was used to analyze stroke incidence and 30-day case fatality variations in the 4 different residence categories. Models with case fatality as outcome were adjusted for age, stroke type, and stroke severity. Results— In total, 3854 incident stroke cases (n=2039 women, 53%) were identified during the study period. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics and primary healthcare access indicators were significantly different among the 4 residence categories. Patterns of risk factors, stroke type, and severity were comparable among residence categories in both sexes. Age-standardized stroke rates varied from 2.90 per thousand (95% CI, 2.59–3.21) in suburbs to 3.35 (95% CI, 2.98–3.73) in rural areas for men, and from 2.14 (95% CI, 2.00–2.28) in town centers to 2.34 (95% CI, 2.12–2.57) in suburbs for women. Regression models suggested that among men, stroke incidence was significantly lower in suburbs than in town centers (incidence rate ratio =0.87; 95% CI, 0.77–0.99). Case fatality risk was comparable across urban categories but lower in rural patients (relative risk versus town centers: 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60–0.96). Conclusions— Stroke incidence was comparable, and the 30-day case fatality only slightly varied in the 4 residence categories despite widely different socio-demographic features covered by the Brest Stroke Registry.


Author(s):  
Mélanie Levasseur ◽  
Daniel Naud ◽  
Jean-François Bruneau ◽  
Mélissa Généreux

Although social participation fosters older adults’ health, little is known about which environmental characteristics are related to greater participation in social activities. The Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 2737), a transportation survey, and multiple secondary data sources were used to identify the environmental characteristics associated with older Quebecers’ social participation according to living area. Greater social participation was associated with: (1) a higher concentration of older adults (IRR = 2.172 (95% CI 1.600, 2.948); p < 0.001), more kilometers traveled by paratransit (IRR = 1.714 (95% CI 1.286, 2.285); p < 0.01), a lack of medical clinics (IRR = 0.730 (95% CI 0.574, 0.930); p = 0.01), and more funded home adaptations (IRR = 1.170 (95% CI 1.036, 1.320); p = 0.01) in large metropolitan areas; (2) larger paratransit fleets (IRR = 1.368 (95% CI 1.044, 1.791); p = 0.02) and a lower density of road intersections (IRR = 0.862 (95% CI 0.756, 0.982); p = 0.03) in regular metropolitan areas; (3) less social deprivation (IRR = 1.162 (95% CI 1.025, 1.318); p = 0.02) in urban areas; and (4) a higher concentration of older populations (IRR = 2.386 (95% CI 1.817, 3.133); p < 0.001) in rural areas. According to these findings, social participation interventions should target the local environment—for example, by providing more social interaction opportunities for older adults living in younger neighborhoods and by improving access to public transportation, especially paratransit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 613-631
Author(s):  
Gregory E Frey ◽  
Susan J Alexander ◽  
James L Chamberlain ◽  
Keith A Blatner ◽  
Alisa W Coffin ◽  
...  

Abstract Although numerous and varied users harvest, trade, and consume nontimber forest products (NTFPs), relatively little is known about the organization of the markets for these products and the market value or contribution to local and regional economies. In this article, we review and synthesize economic research and information on the markets and market values of NTFPs in the United States. We describe formal and informal markets for NTFPs, and the extent to which and reasons why many of the details of these markets remain unknown to researchers and decisionmakers. We provide examples of the market values of various species and identify information gaps and research needs to improve resource management and increase economic development.


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