For Release Sunday, August 8, 2010
© 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
BRIDGEWATER, N.H. — With a classic glacial lake, steep mountainsides and grand vistas, the area around my family’s summer home draws visitors and would-be new residents like a magnet. The visioning statements that surrounding towns have adopted place high value on land stewardship and retaining a rural lifestyle.
But what do the towns’ actual zoning statutes actually call for? Overwhelmingly, they focus on suburban-style one- and two-acre lots, highly popular in recent years. And 68 percent of the the watershed is technically buildable.
So what’s to be done? A new Watershed Master Plan by the Newfound Lake Region Association, backed up by scientific analysis and polling of residents by nearby Plymouth State University, is designed to open a clear public dialogue and help towns resolve the tough development choices they face.
The Newfound area’s growth dilemma isn’t mentioned in “Putting Smart Growth to Work in Local Communities” — a report released last week by the International City/County Management Association under an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
But it’s typical of the challenge so many rural American communities feel today: How to keep a rural quality of life, preserve our landscapes, sustain our small towns and cities, even while positioning ourselves for better jobs and family futures?
Rural America varies greatly, with towns and farms, mining communities, prairies, forests, rangelands covering thousands of square miles nationwide. But it’s also the outer suburban edge communities, plus second home and retirement concentrations, not to mention “gateway” communities near our coastlines and national parks.
But from all sorts of rural communities, states Matthew Dalbey, a chief author of the new report, questions have rolled in — “We’re different from big cities and suburbs; how can we put ‘smart growth’ to work to stay rural, to preserve our quality of life, but still develop?”
First, the report advises, support your legacy — the rural landscape you have today — by keeping working lands (farms, forests, mines) viable and by conserving natural lands.
Second, help existing communities by preserving and investing in such historic mainstays as small town Main Streets.
Third, create “great new places” — neighborhoods and communities so attractive that young people won’t want to leave.
The sad truth is that much rural development steers straight away from those directions. Instead of conserving working lands, it lets many be chopped up for exurban sprawl housing. Rather than undergirding Main Streets, towns and counties have welcomed — under pressure from national chains and tax-hungry local officials — collections of WalMarts and auto parks, hamburger and fried chicken joints, usually spread along sign-glutted roadways through once-placid farm and forest land.
Concurrently, the decades-long decline of small family farms and rise of corporate farms has cost jobs and threatened the very existence of many small towns. Yet as the stores and services once focused on Main Streets spread out across the landscape, the costs for roads and utilities escalate, town treasuries get pinched, and resources for long-term planning run thin.
So what’s the “smart growth” alternative? Focus first, the new report urges, on a community’s “heart” — a vibrant, walkable Main Street and compact, “neighborly” residential neighborhoods around it. Encourage local businesses and rebuild on underutilized close-in lots. And if there’s pressure for residential development outside of town, try to cluster it rather than allow large lot single family subdivisions.
How about the familiar argument — “It’s my property and I can do with it as I please”? Even on land that seemingly has no controls, Dalbey notes, there’s influence — public investment, state tax laws, or county-level rules on subdivisions. The report suggests a raft of balancing tools, including “right to farm” policies, conservation easements, purchase of development rights, and valuing land for taxation at its current use (for farming or forestry, for example) rather than its purported “highest market value.”
The key to make all this happen seems to be found in shared community vision exercises that present clear alternative future growth paths for citizens and elected officials to debate and choose.
But how to popularize a land conserving rural future? The new answer is food. In 1970, there were 340 farmers’ markets in the U.S.; by 2006, there were over 4,300. “Buy local” campaigns help market locally grown products and reinforce the message of rural land conservation. Now “agritourism” is flourishing, with visitors drawn to stay in farm bed-and-breakfasts and lend a hand in the farm work. Agritourism revenues have risen above $550 million nationwide, the Agriculture Department reports.
Back at Newfound Lake, there’s growing community pride in Walker’s Farm, our prime supplier of a raft of seasonal vegetables and fruits and flowers. Walker’s business is booming. But just as important, the farm, set in a stunningly picturesque New England valley, reminds us, native and visitor, of our roots — and hopes.
Neal Peirce’s e-mail is npeirce@citistates.com.
For reprints of Neal Peirce’s column, please contact Washington Post Permissions, c/o PARS International Corp., WPPermissions@parsintl.com, fax 212-221-9195. For newspaper syndication sales, Washington Post Writers Group, 202-334-5375, wpwgsales@washpost.com.
4 Comments
Using “2050” “Food” yields about 10 million responses on most search engines, add “distribution”, it falls to about 100,000, add “USA”, and it is 50,000, and then add the purpose of food, using the word “calorie” and the search is narrowed to 6,000 items. Add any specific related health issue such as “obesity” or “diabetes” and it narrows again. One article in my brief experiment remained throughout. Produced by The Food Ethics Council based in Great Britain it is entitled, “Food Distribution”. Great Britain is a nation sensitized to its priorities of an island nation. One line in this report haunts me, “The way food travels is not sustainable.” It worries this council greatly.
The UK’s land use policies are nationalized to maintain a capacity for self-sufficiency based on calories. One of the most common terms of environmental policy – “sustainable” originates with the management of farm/food production systems designed to retain the viability of the soil coupled with the economic stability of local producers. Nevertheless, the critical demand for survival in a world war pressed the UK’s national land use policy into reality. The public understands the fresh, good taste of local farm production is important, but that is not how the law was born or why it has lasted for so long and now stands challenged.
The American understanding of this point remains uninspiring. Local purchase of “summer’s fruits” in December or July from anywhere on the planet is a matter of price and preference in America. The idea that it is a land use question is an important step, but it halts and stumbles. Even the idea of “back loading” appears to be a nonstarter.
I appreciate you writing about the challenge for rural communities to adopt smart growth strategies, protecting a way of life yet providing acceptable living standards. How do we compete with city wages and discount retailers within driving distance?
You mentioned agritourism and food as the solution. How right you are! When we first offered our farm for lodging, I thought people would want to come out here for the peace and quiet (farm-style, at least). In fact, they were most interested in understanding the workings of our farm, collecting farm fresh eggs, and tasting produce right out of the gardens… all while enjoying the peace and quiet as a side bar.
We moved here from the city seven years ago and I remember the total disconnect I had with rural life when we arrived. From that first day until now, I have come to understand the significant impact a farm experience can have on an urban population hungry for the country and for what the country produces. Our farm stay allows us the opportunity to educate our guests about rural America in a way that will hopefully benefit the conversations that go on surrounding farmland and natural resource sustainability, both drivers of our small community economics.
To that end, and with the assistance of several USDA grants, we just launched a business, Farm Stay U.S. (www.farmstayus.com). The media has recently been full of stories about staying on farms, yet trying to find one nearby is difficult at best. Our website aggregates U.S. working farms and ranches offering lodging into one searchable database.
Besides the database, we are sharing our experiences and our passions via blog posts, social media, and community photos. We feel it is here that we can bridge the rural-urban divide. If our urban neighbors understand and care about what we provide, they are more likely to look locally for their food, understand the premiums of small scale production and the seasonality of crops. Sure, we’re probably not going to give up our coffee, but we (I may be a farmer, but I also shop off the farm!) may buy more at the farmer’s market and look more closely at our grocery store labels. With appreciation comes understanding; with understanding comes change.
Farm stays are a recognized rural economic model in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, supported by the combined efforts of their agricultural and tourism agencies (thus, agritourism). The income from lodging often protects the viability of the small farm and can have the same impact here in the U.S. It works for both sides: I have what you need – an education about rural sustainability and the importance of protecting our small communities. You have what I need – money to keep the farm viable and an interest to learn. I am ever hopeful these win-win, yin-yang, hand-in-hand experiences will have the impact suggested in the article!
Just as we have identified parks, reserves and places of natural heritage and significance to save, now we must identify how much soil and farmland acres each community needs to feed itself. Yes, the farmers markets and food security issues will help tell this urgent story, but the other part of the story is the volume of commercial production which will always be an essential part of U.S. food security as well as export profits for farmers and corporate producers. Saving the best soil is one essential piece of sustainable food systems, but there are many others we have only begun to examine. Farmers markets may need to evolve into producers/distributors of local shelf-stable products (to increase profits as well as increase local food volume and availability). Food entreprenuers (and capital) could help de-centralize the now consolidated food retail systems. Another key is tax reform, so that consolidation and profiteering no longer dominate the food system. If farmers had developed and owned grocery and food distribution systems as cooperatives would we have the same food insecurity we now have? Many thanks for your continued good reporting and writing that connects the dots for us.
Sir: I just read your article on “How do We Keep Rural America Rural?”. I found your commentary insightful and very interesting. I share your same question and feel our actions today will have a tremendous impact on tomorrow. I am employed by the Department of Defense and work as a planner on a military base, where jets operate as part of the defense of our country. Encroachment, near the base on what once was prime farmland, dominates a large portion of what I do. Our local city/county planning commission has worked very hard to implement measures to protect our operational needs. However, as you mentioned, today’s generation wants off the farm and to sell their families, historic in some cases, land for a profit and move into the city. While there are programs within the federal government to prevent such actions, it appears to me that few take advantage of this offer. Again, not desiring the rural lifestyle, I suppose. Is it possible that we must recreate a Rural American just to preserve it? Is this National policy rather than State or Local? Or have we lost Rural America to our own greed? Again, I thank you for the article and I look forward to reading more about this subject. V/R Gary R Hallmark, AICP