Micropolitan Areas Creating Leadership in the New Economy: Developing Micropolitan Areas to Develop a New Economy

The United States is experiencing a major shift. This started before COVID-19 spread around the planet; however, the virus has confirmed that a major shift is needed. For years, inward migration to urban centers drove our economic development, and young people moved from rural communities to urban centers in search of opportunity and income. In 2017 a paradigm shift occurred. Young professionals started moving out of urban centers and back into rural communities. They are searching for safe places to raise their families, stability, good schools, and a sense of place and community. These young bright professionals have ignited a new economy based on the creative economy. From this new economy, the U.S. Bureau of Census has created a new category called “micropolitan areas.” There are now 581 micropolitan areas in the U.S. (population greater than 10 thousand and less than 50 thousand), and many of these have developed a strong economic development program that is not based on courting large industrial business but courting small to medium creative industries.