More than a third of small towns in Georgia lost population in the last year alone, highlighting the challenges of reviving rural areas. New census (人口普查) estimates show that Camilla fell below 5, 000 residents. Sparks fell below 2, 000, and Milan fell to 661 residents for a loss of 7% of its population. All three towns are in South Georgia.
"Many of the young people in these communities graduate from high school and don't come back. They go to college, whatever, they don't come back," said David Bridges, head of its Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation in Tifton.
Meanwhile, Georgia's cities are growing, having no problem drawing people from small towns and other cities. Atlanta grew more than 1% in the past year and is now nearing the half-million-resident mark.
The trend of people moving from rural to urban areas is hardly a new one——it's been going on worldwide for more than a century. But continued population losses have raised questions about whether rural areas can do anything to reverse the tide.
Rural residents can face a number of challenges including access to good jobs, transportation and health care. Manufacturing jobs have dried up in many places, while modernization and new technology means fewer people are needed for farming. And many people are deciding to have smaller families than was typical a century ago.
"The older generation is dying, the younger generation is moving away, and because there are perceived to be fewer business opportunities, financial opportunities, etc. It's very challenging to get inbound population." Bridges said.
Demographers (人口学家) expect the shift from rural to urban to continue. But there are some bright spots in rural America still. Jackson County near Athens was recently named one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation by the Census Bureau. Amazon opened a large fulfillment center there a couple of years ago. And Young Harris, near the Georgia-North Carolina border, has grown by more than 80% since 2010.
