by Terry L. Besser
Assistant Professor and Extension Sociologist,
Iowa State University Extension to Communities
Most people do not like to move. It is an unpleasant experience to be avoided if at all possible. Yet, despite the unpopularity of moving, it is a popular topic of discussion among concerned citizens of small towns in Iowa. The majority of small towns are struggling with the dual problems of retaining current residents, especially recently emancipated offspring, and attracting new residents. Thus, information about why people leave one place and select another is vitally important for community planning.
The Community Development Society recently published the results of a study conducted by a team of researchers at Pennsylvania State University about people's decisions to move to a new town. A summary of their conclusions, combined with data from Iowa, provides insight into this important decision.
According to Leigh Maynard, one of the Penn State researchers, it takes strong motivators for people to endure the discomfort of moving. There has to be some kind of stress in the current location coupled with expected greater satisfaction in the new location. The factors in the current location that frequently cause sufficient discomfort that people will move are low income compared to expected income in other locations, higher cost of living compared to other locations and/or the belief that the quality of life is better in other areas.
Quality of life includes educational opportunities, government services, neighborliness, recreational opportunities and safety. How important each of these factors is to an individual depends on his/her stage in life. A young, childless person will seek different amenities from a community than will someone in the child-rearing years. Someone nearing retirement will look for a different set of services and benefits than either the single, young adult or the parents of small children.
Maynard and his colleagues conducted telephone interviews with 600 new residents (defined as living five years or less in the county) in three adjacent rural counties in Pennsylvania. They asked questions about the new residents' motivations for moving into their current location. The top three reasons identified by the newcomers were to be close to family or a recently married spouse, improved employment opportunities in the new location, and preference for small-town life.
A survey of almost 11,000 people in 99 Iowa small towns conducted by researchers at Iowa State University discovered a slightly different mix of motivations reported by new comers as the reason for living in their particular community.
The major reasons the Iowa newcomers gave were affordable housing, closeness to job, safety, and closeness to relatives/in-laws (in that order). Despite the prominence of closeness to employment as a motivator, newcomers in the Iowa study commuted longer distances to work than longer term residents (an average of 14 miles one way compared to 10 miles for others). Only one of four employed newcomers actually worked in the town where they resided, contrasted to one of two longer time residents.
This data suggests that people select their community of residence from among the whole group of communities that are within what they perceive to be "driving distance" of work. According to both studies, closeness to relatives and quality of life issues, particularly housing and safety in Iowa, are critical in the final selection of a town to live in.
How can this information be used by communities in efforts to retain and attract residents? It is clear that having attractive job opportunities within driving distance of a community is an essential prerequisite for drawing in adults in their wage-earning years. However, among all the towns within driving distance of the job, the community that has the best buys in housing and the most attractive quality of life will be the one to realize the net gain in residents -- not necessarily the town where the jobs are located. This supports the position that neighboring communities all can gain when employment opportunities are increased in any one of them. Likewise, it shows that jobs alone are not enough to induce people to move to a town if a community with a better quality of life is within driving distance.
The research reveals something else. The most likely candidates to become new residents are the relatives of current residents. It may be that people like to live close to relatives and will do so if possible. It might also be that the main source of information about the quality of life in a community (housing, safety, schools, government services, recreation) is through word-of-mouth from trusted others -- relatives.
For small towns, that possibility implies that strategies to attract new residents should begin by convincing current residents that the town is a good place to live and then encouraging them to communicate their satisfaction to their friends and relatives. This is an especially important message for residents to send to their educated offspring, who are instead often advised by their parents to move out of town to have a better quality of life.
Contacts:
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
