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With the carnage of World War I just over, a popular 1919 song was “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree)?” The lyrics captured the worry that American soldiers who had grown up on farms or in small towns would not return to country life after seeing the bright lights of Paris.

One hundred years later, those same lyrics apply – perhaps with a rock or hip-hop beat.

In Wisconsin and across America, the decades-long march of people from rural settings to urban centers continues. The shift comes with justified worries about rural economies, healthcare delivery, basic infrastructure, schools and culture. The question is: What can stabilize rural communities in Wisconsin and elsewhere?

Possible answers are complicated and by no means certain, but it’s worth trying if the goal is slowing the spread of a dual economy of haves and have-nots.

Some statistics help to outline the problem, which is national in scope:

Nearly 35% of U.S. rural counties are experiencing long-term and significant population loss, according to 2019 research released by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Those counties are home to 6.2 million residents, a third fewer than lived there in 1950.