STRONG TOWNS

You’ve been on the road since the early 1970s. In that time, how have you seen small towns change?

ULRING

I imagine my observations would be similar to anyone my age who has been paying attention. Once upon a time, these small- and medium-sized towns would have a downtown that was well anchored with good stores. A couple of men's clothing stores, maybe a J.C. Penney, a Ben Franklin or a Montgomery Wards or Sears or something like that. There'd be a chain store, and then multiple family-owned businesses. It was the classic, middle-America downtown we all dream of.

That downtown would be surrounded by well-built homes. Depending on when the town was founded, you might see Victorian prairie-style homes from the turn of the 20th century, then well-built bungalow-type homes from the 1920s through perhaps the 1960s. Very natural, organic growth.

These traditional towns were similar in many ways. There might be some small changes depending on where the industry of the town is. If it's a riverfront town or a railroad town, there may be some variations on that theme…but overall very similar.

But the subsequent changes have been similar too: the hollowing out of the core of the community, starting with the good, two- and three-story brick buildings downtown. Then a decline in that high-quality housing around it.

Invariably, as you’re watching the center of town fall apart, you’re seeing people move out to the suburbs. Even in a small town, you see development on the edge of town. I see towns that are completely dead, or virtually dead, in the center of town, yet they still have 20 or 30 newer homes, including some very new homes on the far edge. These are usually retired people who have connections to the community. Many of them are in late retirement, and they’re going to be the last owners of homes in those towns.

STRONG TOWNS

What has the temptation been for these towns? Why are they making these development choices?

ULRING

They're told to. Very few small- or medium-sized communities feel in charge of their own destiny. They look at the growth of Chicago and Minneapolis, and they think the dynamic part of the economy takes place on the edges. There is also a traditional Midwestern belief that the symbol of wealth is a new home…even if they already own a beautiful older home. You’re seeing this even with farmers. Because of how farming has changed, it’s easy to live 10 to 20 miles from the farm. So people move to the edge of town to be with their buddies there, even though the town itself is collapsing.

STRONG TOWNS

You just touched on something I was going to ask you about. Because of your work you had a front row seat to the farm crisis of the 1980s as well. Do you see a connection between the choices these rural communities are making related to development, and the pressures facing farmers?

ULRING

There is a connection for sure, and I think the pressures have only accelerated since the 1980s. For decades, farmers have been told, “Get modern or get out.”

STRONG TOWNS

Right. Earl Butz’s [the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1971-1976] famous directive to farmers to “Get big or get out.”

ULRING

Yes. These farms entered into a growth phase at the same time. And the damage was not just financial, it was sociological and cultural. Into the early 1970s, it was common for the firstborn son or daughter to come back from college and say, “Dad, I want to start farming with you.” Boomers were taking over the farms from the “G.I. Generation,” who had taken over the farm after the war, maybe when their fathers and grandfathers were living on the farm. Almost every one of those farms was in the transition to “get big” and “get modern” when the farm crisis struck. They were trying to make the farms bigger and more efficient. They were investing capital at 18% interest, and then the rug got pulled out. What that means is that we lost not only a lot of farms but a whole generation of famers.

STRONG TOWNS

Maybe this is too simplistic—so feel free to push back—but is it fair to say that, at the same time farmers were being told to “Get big or get out,” the small towns started thinking: “You know what, if we're really going to be relevant, we need to get bigger. We need to start developing out on the edges because that’s what people want.”

ULRING

Absolutely. There's no question that the push for suburban development came at the same time. I think city planners just thought, "Well, the next town over is doing this, so let's do it too." All these young people were coming out of college, coming into their own, and looking for a place to live. There was huge demand for housing, and they thought this was the way to go. Infrastructure costs were still relatively cheap in the 60s and 70s. People saw this as progress. I’m not sure how many saw the defects of suburban development or the costs to community long-term.

Plus, the American way is “Grow or die,” right? I’ve traveled to dozens of different countries. My biggest experience overseas is working in Japan, a country with thousands of years of culture. They ask me what America is like, and I say, “Well, you have to remember America becomes a new country every 20 years.”

Slideshow: Hoxie, Kansas (1960s-2017)