What is rural livability?
What defines rural quality of life, or livability, or prosperity?
“Livability” is what makes somewhere a good place to live and work. But what livability looks like depends on who you ask, which makes defining it tough. Measuring it? Even tougher.
Traditional approaches to measuring livability focus mostly on growth – the idea that more people, more jobs, and more businesses must create a higher quality of life. The Rural Livability Project approach is different. We use diverse data, advanced methods, and comprehensive analytical frameworks to go beyond growth in uncovering the mechanisms that drive livability and make somewhere a good place to live, work, and raise a family. By developing locally informed tools that keep rural at the center, we’re empowering communities to recognize their strengths, confront their challenges, and make informed choices about how to invest in their communities.
We invite you to learn more about our approach, explore our research through the interactive maps, and keep up with the team as we continue our mission towards sustaining and advancing rural livability.
