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Articles on Rural America

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Rural students who grow up with strong ties to their schools are more likely to return to their hometowns after they graduate from college. Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

3 things that influence college graduates from rural areas to return to their communities

While many students who grew up in rural communities leave for good after going off to college, some are returning to their rural roots. A scholar who studies education and small towns explains why.
A prairie strip filled with flowers and wild rye grass between soybean fields on Tim Smith’s farm near Eagle Grove, Iowa, reduces greenhouse gases and stores carbon in the soil. The Washington Post via Getty Images

Climate-friendly farming strategies can improve the land and generate income for farmers

Farmers can help slow climate change by mixing native grasses into croplands, restoring wetlands and raising perennial crops. These strategies also conserve soil and water and build new markets.
Not all gay people enjoy big cities, but pop culture has little to say about rural LGBTQ life. Ruaridh Connellan / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Queer in the country: Why some LGBTQ Americans prefer rural life to urban ‘gayborhoods’

Stereotypically, gay, queer and trans kids flee small towns to find acceptance in big, diverse cities like New York or Chicago. But evidence shows many will eventually return to rural areas.
Patrons eat outside at a small cafe in West Reading, Pennsylvania, as the community begins to reopen. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

How small towns are responding to the global pandemic

Local leaders and business owners have had to get creative to help their residents stay healthy and keep community economies going.
In the rural South, chronic illnesses are common, the population is older and health care options have been declining as hospitals close. All put the population at higher risk from COVID-19. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Coronavirus is spreading through rural South’s high-risk population – reopening economies will make it worse

Southern governors are starting to reopen their economies at the same time COVID-19 cases are spreading through the rural South.

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