Most communities in Nebraska have had a declining populations for decades. The Iowa State Extension program has a project called Rural Shrink Smart. This is a program that studies and helps communities that have a shrinking population but still figure out ways to increase their quality of life.
Shrinking Smart is an interesting concept. I was reminded of it today when I was walking around the park in Nelson, Neb. They have an old baseball field that is fully fenced in what is now used as a dog park. They had an asset that wasn’t being utilized, and they found a way to make those resources useful again, which increased their quality of life. What other examples of this have you seen in your region of Nebraska? Reach out and let me know.
Other Shrink Smart strategies could involve the use of infrastructure such as water and sewer lines. In many communities, development of new subdivisions on the edge of town is normal, but those subdivisions require new electrical, sewer and water lines. This new infrastructure then needs to be maintained by the city, which adds to the cost of running the city.
What if you could build the same number of homes in a community without an investment in infrastructure? That is infill development. The homes are built on already existing lots in the community. Many times I’ll drive through a community and see that over the years many empty lots have developed in the community. These are all a less expensive and quicker building option because they already have essential infrastructure in place. The drawback is that the new home must be built in a way that fits that lot, which makes it more difficult.
Filling empty lots eases the budget of the city. They now receive more property tax dollars, but they still have the same amount of infrastructure as they did the previous year. That helps them provide more amenities to the community in the future.
When I was a community development director, we worked on a mixed use subdivision and built many homes. The issue that we ran into was that if many more homes were built, then the city would have to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a new electrical substation. It was a difficult situation for a town to be in where they had to invest in infrastructure to support growth, but that small amount of growth wouldn’t be able to pay for the infrastructure.
Shrinking Small helps alleviate that difficulty. Using the infrastructure that is already in place helps to use that extra capacity to serve the community more efficiently.
What pieces of infrastructure are not being well utilized in your community? Is there a baseball field that isn’t being used? Could it be used for another sport that is more popular or for something else entirely? Is there an old motel or nursing home that could be turned into apartments? The options are endless. Using existing assets to increase quality of life is a way to shrink smart. What is your community going to do?
If your community could benefit from any of the Rural Prosperity Nebraska ideas that I’ve discussed in this column, please reach out to me. I’d love to speak to your community about these topics. You can reach me at jason.tuller@unl.edu or at the Thayer County office at 402-768-7212.
Jason Tuller is an Extension Educator for the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He works in the Rural Prosperity Nebraska program and covers ten-county area including Kearney, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Saline, Franklin, Webster, Nuckolls, Thayer, and Jefferson Counties.