Rural Majority Policy Issues, The Big Strategy, Urban/Rural Divide

This is one big argument against the Urban Archipelago theory put up by Seattle’s Stranger last November, that Democrats should focus on the urban cores of the United States. Or, as they put it:

Citizens of the Urban Archipelago reject heartland "values" like xenophobia, sexism, racism, and homophobia, as well as the more intolerant strains of Christianity that have taken root in this country. And we are the real Americans. They--rural, red-state voters, the denizens of the exurbs--are not real Americans.

Just outside of Seattle, we seem to have an example of this kind of rural activism that plays straight into the Republicans hand: that property rights are being attacked by Seattle elitists that think they know what is best for rural Western Washington.

On the flip side of that coin is Rural Majority, a group whose purpose and tagline is to: Keep It Rural:

After months of research, lots of meetings and some serious planning we decided to ask the King County Council to adopt a set of policies aimed at improving life for rural landowner and protecting the rural area.

The policies include: improving communications between King County and rural residents and property owners by establishing a Rural Advisory Council; providing better tax incentives for land protection; establishing a timely, simple, low-cost “Small Landowners’ Assistance” program; and protecting rural character by stopping urban style development in the rural area.

There seems to be a split in rural dweller that can be taken advantage of by Western Dems, between those that want to preserve rural areas (and possibly use the government as an agent of that protection) and those that just want theres.

This is illustrated by a number of Oregon county farm bureaus and how they split their support of Measure 37, a pro-property rights initiative. Farm Bureaus in the areas just south of the Portland metro area, that had been preserved as rural in the last 30 years by strong land use laws, were against M37. Farm bureaus in counties that hadn’t felt much development pressure in recent decades, and probably saw the measure as the genie in the economic development lamp, supported it.

Emmett O'Connell | July 5, 2005 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) Permalink: Rural Majority Policy Issues, The Big Strategy, Urban/Rural Divide

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