By Tracy Fugere
Fargo, ND – The Director of the North Dakota State Data Center says the purpose of the recent Great Plains Population Symposium was to start the debate about the problematic demise of the rural areas.
Richard Rathge says solutions to this problem aren't easy and it will take new ways of thinking.
"For example, one of the things that we learned from the symposium was how independent we are in the rural areas of the Great Plains. We are independent simply because that's a mode of survival that we grew up with. Now, all of a sudden, we're in an era of interdependence and for us to change and think differently--thinking that we have to combine communities and we have to collaborate--it is very difficult. Best case and point is to school districts. Asking school districts to consolidate--in other words--become independent is very problematic."
Rathge says a lot of barriers to new solutions came out in the symposium. But, he says he is optimistic that policymakers will start initiating new directions to make a change.