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The North Central Regional Planning Commission (NCRPC) is pleased to present the Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy to further better understanding of the rural condition. We are equally pleased to inform you that Dr. Duane Nellis, KSU Provost, has agreed to be the Executive Editor, with Dr. Thomsas Gould and a board of stellar academic researchers. These are the individuals who will compile the Journal now set to be published on a monthly article basis.
Subject matter will vary in theme from issue to issue, although all presented information is to have the rural perspective foremost in mind. That viewpoint has been lacking in the public discourse and it is something that needs to be given its due. All too often it is assumed rural issues have urban beginnings and small cities are but minor urban centers. While the former can be argued, the latter is simply not true. Missed is the fact the rural paradigm has changed. Whereas once all cities operated in isolation and provided for the entire needs of their resident base, today they are each neighborhoods in a much larger community. Such rural communities typically contain multiple small cities and are defined by the daily patterns of individual activity as residents move to and from work, educate their children and acquire the goods and services they need to maintain their chosen lifestyle. They are not defined by any one particular city’s corporate limits.
As for the NCRPC, it is very interested in rural growth and development and has been actively involved in regional planning for over 30 years in a very rural part of Kansas. During this time significant change has occurred – some perceived as positive, some as negative. Masked in that change has been a continuous stream of individuals choosing to return to their rural origins, bringing experience and skills that enable them to prosper in what many of their urban counterparts perceive to be a dying environment. The lifestyle of those choosing to come back is built upon “accessibility,” not “convenience.” That is very different from what most policy makers remember from their childhood. Those returning understand the distinction; too many do not.
We now give our attention and support to the editors with the hope the Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy can contribute to our understanding of what is meant by the term “rural.”
John R. Cyr
Executive Director
January 2006
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