United States:
Rural Poverty Housing
In open, rural landscapes decent housing can be scarce.

By Rebekah Daniel

I'm gonna live where the green grass grows
Watchin' my corn pop up in rows
Every night be tucked in close to you
Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed
Point our rocking chairs towards the west
Plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows
Where the green grass grows

("Where the Green Grass Grows," by Jess Leary/Craig Wiseman, from Tim McGraw's album "Everywhere")

COLONIAS

APPALACHIA

RESERVATIONS

In a country where "metro areas" have been growing for decades, there remains a common pull toward the open spaces, slower pace and self-reliance of rural America. As the song above reflects, it is a place of security and peace in the minds of many people.

But it is also a collection of places of surprising diversity, places with unique challenges and opportunities for the Habitat for Humanity affiliates at work in them.

A starting place is pinpointing just where the rural areas are. The U.S. Census Bureau describes urban areas by population and density; rural areas, on the other hand, are defined as "territory, population and housing units not classified as urban"--in other words, everything else. Habitat generally considers its affiliates to be rural if the service area holds fewer than 75,000 people. Nationwide, 59 million people, or 20 percent of the U.S. population, live in rural areas.

But there are characteristics of rural areas that tell more than the numbers. The Housing Assistance Council is a nonprofit organization specializing in rural housing issues, and executive director Moises Loza notes, "Resources in rural areas tend to be sparse, particularly in places far away from towns or metropolitan areas. This includes everything from grocery stores to hospitals, homeless shelters, and assisted living complexes for elderly people. Infrastructure resources are scarce in some rural places, too, especially in remote areas. Some still have unpaved roads, and rural places are more likely than cities to rely on wells and septic systems than on centralized water and sewer plants."

Isolation impacts rural communities by both uniting them within their own small towns and separating them from others. Jeri Lemke is a Habitat affiliate support manager based in South Dakota, where only three of 66 counties have a population of more than 30,000 people.

"Since most of our affiliates are in such remote, rural locations, their isolation insulates them and you can imagine how close-knit and how closely integrated these folks become in their little communities," she says. "To a certain extent, some folks do have a natural distrust of 'outsiders.' Small communities are just naturally wary of outsiders, and their trust must be earned."

To the advantage of rural areas is their close network of relationships with neighbors, says Amy Davies, an affiliate support manager in Portland, Ore. "The sense of community in rural affiliates is very, very strong. It's people being connected to the people in their town or county and wanting to make a difference. There's a network of churches or other community organizations that can make things happen."

These advantages become essential in working through the housing challenges facing rural areas. Woven throughout studies in various parts of the United States are three common roadblocks to decent housing.

Gentrification
Commonly regarded as a downside of urban renewal, gentrification has popped up in rural areas as well, especially near resorts or natural features that encourage tourism. John Arguello, executive director of Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity in Las Cruces, N.M., has seen the town's housing landscape change quickly in the last few years as residents of California, accustomed to a white-hot real estate market, have moved or retired in this town of 74,000.

"It's a really nice atmosphere here in terms of the cultures, really friendly," he says. "Folks travel through on vacations, and then they think of us at retirement age. Five years ago, there was an adequate supply of 1,100-square-foot homes for $75,000. Now that same 1,100-square-foot is a 'starter home' at $150,000."

Local wages have not increased at the same rate as housing prices, creating a tension in residents with longstanding loyalties to the area and low-paying jobs. Still, they usually choose to stay, he says. "Because of the love people have for this area, many are willing to stay for much lower wages. People are willing to sacrifice for family connections."

Limited credit
Poor, or nonexistent, credit is closely tied to the daily challenges of making ends meet on very low incomes. Dan Walz, executive director of Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity in Virginia, explains the ease with which credit can be damaged with a hypothetical, but realistic, scenario: "Say there's a working mother whose son has asthma. She can't afford health insurance and uses the emergency room when he gets sick. When she has to replace her car, they see she's behind on her medical bills and give her a really high interest rate, which means she has less money to feed and clothe her kids. It's a vicious cycle."

According to HAC, approximately 10 percent of all nonmetro mortgages, twice the proportion of metro loans, have an interest rate of 10 percent or more. "At some level, it comes back to economics," says Davies. "Housing is not just an issue in a bubble. It's totally affected by the wider world."

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