Contemporary development forces in the nonmetropolitan west: new insights from rapidly growing communities

Nonmetropolitan areas in the western United States have experienced rapid growth rates measured in both economic and demographic terms. Macrolevel studies have found that a variety of forces are at work driving these regional patterns of growth including quality of life migrants, expansion of service industries, and nonearnings sources of income. While these macrolevel studies provide important insights into the processes of regional change, very little is known of the significance of these contemporary development forces at the micro, or community, level. This paper reports the results of four community case studies in rapidly growing rural communities within the western United States to provide a better understanding of economic and social change at the community level. Interviews with key players in each case study community provide the empirical evidence for this paper, and the data demonstrate community development processes to be complex. Resource-dependent industrial activities remain an important component for community economies. Furthermore, extractive activity is being supplemented (not supplanted) by various combinations of the factors reported in macrolevel studies including niche manufacturing, Lone Eagles, quality of life migrants, and retirees. The case studies also highlight a high degree of volatility in growing areas and potential problems with assimilation, fractioning, and planning associated with rapid growth in these small places.