March 2, 2004

What's An Agurb

Excerpts from Weekly Market Bulletin-State of NH

According to the NH Department of Agriculture's Commissioner, Stephen Taylor, the buzz is all about the agurbs. He states that this is a newly coined term for communities that are outside of metropolitan regions, are close to agricultural activity, have gained population since 1990 and show per capita income growth exceeding two percent per year.

A new book entitled “Boomtown, USA, the 7-1/2 Keys to a Big Success in Small Towns” published by the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties says we're in the midst of the third great population migration in a century. First came the shift from farms to urban areas, followed by movement from cities to the suburbs.

Now the suburbanites are heading for the agurbs. In the 1990s some 18 million Americans left metro areas for small towns and rural settings.

The book's authors studied hundreds of small towns and cities that fit the agurb criteria and generated a list of 100 top U.S. communities for business prosperity and quality of life. Methodology in “Boomtown USA” parallels other current literature that argues that economic prosperity comes most easily to areas that encourage entrepreneurship and offer attractive amenities such as good schools, recreation, entertainment and health care.

But then, those of us involved in the agricultural marketplace already knew this, didn't we?