Before the Great Recession in the late 2000s, Louisa County was among the fastest growing counties in the nation. Lake Anna’s 200 miles of shoreline helped attract thousands of retirees to the county, while Louisa’s low cost of living and proximity to Charlottesville, Northern Virginia, and Richmond attracted many younger residents willing to make a long commute to the metro areas. After a decade of slow growth in population following the 2000s housing crash, the 2022 Virginia Population Estimates that our center released show Louisa and many other counties located on the borders of Virginia’s metro areas are booming again.
It is the goal of NeighborWorks America to make every place a community of opportunity. Unfortunately, some areas are being left behind more than others as our global and national economies continue to shift. Rural communities are among them.
The National Rural Housing Coalition released its 2017 impact report, Measuring the Economic and Human Impact of Nonprofit Organizations in Rural America, providing information and data to policy makers and the public on the impact nonprofit housing organizations have on their communities.
This report presents a case study highlighting the process one rural manufactured home community undertook to convert from investor to cooperative resident ownership.
This 2014 Housing Assistance Council report explores the state of housing for seniors in rural America using demographic and market data, and it offers resources and recommendations for addressing the challenges identified.
This Center for American Progress issue brief provides an analysis of the areas of opportunity for improving access to credit in rural communities gleaned from discussions in a roundtable convened by the White House Rural Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service.
This chapter from a Center for American Progress report on wealth building in the 21st century focuses on the unique challenges of housing affordability.
This USDA study shows that out-migration counties stand out on two measures, indicating that quality of life factors inhibit in-migration: a lack of retirees moving in and local manufacturers citing the area’s unattractiveness as a problem in recruiting managers and professionals.