Recreation Counties Are the Fastest Growing
Nonmetro Counties
Calvin
L. Beale
Eyewire
The appeal of rural areas for recreation
has a long history, going back as far as colonial
times, when places with restorative hot springs
emerged as resorts, such as Stafford Springs, CT,
and Berkeley Springs, WV. In the modern era, ease
of transportation, increased leisure time, higher
incomes, major government investment in State and
National Parks, and the attraction of reservoir
lakes have helped draw public interest in such places
and make away-from-home recreation an economic driving
force in many rural and small-town areas. For rural
communities attempting to offset job losses from
farming, mining, or manufacturing, capitalizing
on the recreational appeal of an area may foster
new economic development, helping retain or increase
population.
Researchers from ERS and Loyola
University Chicago have identified nonmetropolitan
(nonmetro) counties that have a major dependence
on recreational activity. Recreational dependence
was determined by several measures—the share
of county employment related to recreation and its
accompanying businesses, the share of annual earnings
income derived from the same industries, the share
of housing units intended for occasional use only
(second homes), and, in marginal cases, the per
capita sales receipts of hotels and motels. Based
on these criteria, 300 nonmetro counties—or
a seventh of the U.S. total—were identified
as recreation counties.
Recreation counties are found in
many regions but are particularly common in the
Upper Great Lakes States, the Mountain West, and
upland areas of the Northeast. Typical attractions
include lakes, coastal locations, skiing, fishing,
or general outdoor activity and scenic beauty. Casinos,
whose location may not be related to any natural
amenity, have also become a feature of many recreation
economies since 1990. Many recreation counties have
the same qualities that attract retirees, and a
number of them are also identified as retirement
counties in ERS's county typology.
The population of nonmetro recreation
counties has grown at a much higher rate than that
of most other types of nonmetro counties. From 2000
to 2004, recreation county population grew by 5.2
percent, while the nonmetro population as a whole
grew by 1.8 percent, reflecting considerable inmovement
of people making permanent residences. Despite the
presence of many service jobs that are low paying
or only seasonal, every type of recreation county
has somewhat higher median household income than
the average for all other nonmetro counties. Recreation
counties also have a distinctly higher share of
adults who have a 4-year college degree or higher.
Thus, these counties seem to have brighter economic
prospects than many nonmetro counties that depend
on traditional rural and small-town industries.
The County Typology page of the ERS
Briefing Room on Measuring Rurality.
|
