Some rural communities in Illinois are pushing back against the narrative that they’re dying
to arm leaders of rural communities with positive data, such as fully occupied homes and anchored schools, while suggesting language those leaders should use to recruit people to move to rural towns, which are often coping with negative stereotypes.
“We’ve had a lot of transitions, and our Main Streets … look different,” Winchester said. “And just because they look different doesn’t mean they’re dead, necessarily.” Karen Moritz, who has lived in Cullom for 29 years and in rural Illinois her whole life, mows her lawn on May 9, 2023. The American Legion Mess Hall in Cullom, pictured on Feb. 15, 2022, is the main lunch spot in town. “I just love the rural area and I just want my kids to have that same opportunity that I had," says Vicki Allen, while waiting in line for the Legion’s popular tomato soup.
But seniors hanging onto their homes at a higher rate has led to a “lack of houses for sale” creating an “important barrier to young adults buying their first homes,” the Freddie Mac paper notes.“Unfortunately, the supply is not meeting the demand,” said Brad Cole, the executive director of Illinois Municipal League. “An older aging housing stock is what small communities have.”
“We have no homes for sale. That’s good, that’s probably the silver lining,” Neste said. “It goes off the market very fast.” While small towns are dealing with a housing crunch, those same towns aren’t seeing much growth when it comes to building new homes.One exception has been Dieterich — a town of 900 about 10 miles southeast of Effingham — but only because it took big risks.
In the late 1990s, Dieterich’s population was stagnant and officials were considering closing the town’s school and incorporating it into a new district, according to Foster.So the community leadership created a residential tax increment financing district, a development tool long used in Chicago that Dieterich employed to decrease financial barriers for developers to build.
Foster said that while not all towns experience the level of success Dieterich has seen, Resource Bank’s bet on rural is paying off.
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