The American Communities Report

Vol. 4 2021-2022

Community Renewal in the Wake of Covid-19

In This Issue

How are communities coming back from the Covid-19 pandemic? How are their cultures changing? What steps are they taking to rebuild their physical infrastructure, build new digital infrastructure, invest in families and human capital, and restructure their economies for the future? How are they addressing housing problems? We seek to answer these questions in our two-year study, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Note: This page will be updated with new content throughout the span of the study.

Issue Contents

After Two Years of Covid, Economic and Health Woes Persist in Diverse North Carolina Counties

How Internal Wealth Influences Communities’ Prospects Post-Covid

In Working Class Country, Shifting Views on Covid-19 and Its Vaccines

In a New Mexico Mountain Village, A Tale of Two Carrots

Amid North Dakota’s Labor Shortage, Dispelling the Myth that “Nobody Wants to Work”

How Covid-Related Shutdowns and Education Level Affected Unemployment Across America’s Cities

In a Maryland Urban Suburb, Families Find Affordable Child Care Elusive

How San Francisco Bay Area Residents Are Confronting a Persistent Housing Crisis

In Rural Wisconsin, It’s Time to Build for the Future

As Covid-19 Recedes, an Unequal Economic Recovery Takes Shape Across America

Covid Crisis Pushes Hispanic Center Toward a Futuristic Economy

Communities’ Job Losses Signal Mix of Optimism and Uncertainty for Post-Covid Economy

In Florida’s Graying America, a Call to Attend to Infrastructure and Communication

In Arizona’s Maricopa County, Awakening After a Winter of Discontent

Michigan Urban Suburb Is Yearning for Healing, Trust, and Covid Funds

The American Communities Report

Deaths of Despair Across America

In This Issue

The American Communities Project is undertaking a 30-month study of deaths of despair across the country, supported by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. These are deaths resulting from drugs, alcohol, and/or suicide. The study includes data analysis as well as on-the-ground reporting in Georgia and Montana. Participants are: Dante Chinni, director; Ari Pinkus, senior editor; Lee Banville, professor at the University of Montana; Andy Miller, CEO and editor of Georgia Health News; and Ray Suarez, on-the-ground reporter. Data analysis, mapping and graphics by the Center on Rural Innovation. Note: This page will be updated with new content throughout the span of the study.

Issue Contents

American Communities Experience Deaths of Despair at Uneven Rates

A Closer Look at Deaths of Despair in Montana

How Covid-19 and Deaths of Despair Combine to Affect Communities

How Montana’s Despair Deaths Have Intersected with the Pandemic’s Isolation

A Pastor Reflects on Suicide’s Impact in His Quaint Mountain Town — and Offers Hope

On a Mission to Stop Youth Suicide in Philadelphia

In Metro Atlanta, Two Communities — One White, One Black — Differently Grapple with Deaths of Despair

Podcast: Dying in Georgia — Fast or Slow, but Too Soon

Unpacking the Geography of America’s Youth Suicide Epidemic

Documentary Short: Teen Suicides in Rural America

The Pandemic and Deaths of Despair in Western Pennsylvania

The American Communities Report

Vol. 2 Autumn

A New Portrait of Rural America

In This Issue

A common narrative portrays “Rural America” as one big place with one set of similar people and facing similar challenges. Yet, in reality, rural America’s geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic landscapes are remarkably diverse. Rural places can be hilly and remote, or begin at an interstate exit with flat lands stretching to the horizon. The racial and ethnic composition can look like it did 50 years ago or be decades ahead of trends. Their economies might be driven by tractors and commodity prices or by factories and the retail trade. The American Communities Project uses its unique community typologies as well as data and on-the-ground reporting to explore these differences and blow up the mythology of rural America. (Note: The multimedia report contains many graphics and interactive features that can delay loading time.)

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Issue Contents

Overview

In the Field: Rural Regions and Points of Progress

Videos: Rural Report Findings and Discussion With Community Leaders

Interactive: Explore Rural America’s Diversity

Fulton County, Arkansas: Working Class Country

St. Francis County, Arkansas: African American South

Finney County, Kansas: Hispanic Center

Gove County, Kansas: Aging Farmland

Morton County, North Dakota: Rural Middle America

Todd County, South Dakota: Native American Land

Resources: Community Type Maps and Data

The American Communities Report

Vol. 1 Autumn

Health and Place in America, 2018

In This Issue

The place you live is more than your home; it defines your life, from job opportunities and consumer choices, to the quality of education, to air quality and exercise options. And just a few miles can make a dramatic difference. The American Communities Project combined its community types with data from the County Health Rankings to explore the intersection of health and geography in the United States in 2018.

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The American Communities Report

Community Renewal in the Wake of Covid-19

Issue Contents

After Two Years of Covid, Economic and Health Woes Persist in Diverse North Carolina Counties

How Internal Wealth Influences Communities’ Prospects Post-Covid

In Working Class Country, Shifting Views on Covid-19 and Its Vaccines

In a New Mexico Mountain Village, A Tale of Two Carrots

Amid North Dakota’s Labor Shortage, Dispelling the Myth that “Nobody Wants to Work”

How Covid-Related Shutdowns and Education Level Affected Unemployment Across America’s Cities

In a Maryland Urban Suburb, Families Find Affordable Child Care Elusive

How San Francisco Bay Area Residents Are Confronting a Persistent Housing Crisis

In Rural Wisconsin, It’s Time to Build for the Future

As Covid-19 Recedes, an Unequal Economic Recovery Takes Shape Across America

Covid Crisis Pushes Hispanic Center Toward a Futuristic Economy

Communities’ Job Losses Signal Mix of Optimism and Uncertainty for Post-Covid Economy

In Florida’s Graying America, a Call to Attend to Infrastructure and Communication

In Arizona’s Maricopa County, Awakening After a Winter of Discontent

Michigan Urban Suburb Is Yearning for Healing, Trust, and Covid Funds

The American Communities Report

Deaths of Despair Across America

Issue Contents

American Communities Experience Deaths of Despair at Uneven Rates

A Closer Look at Deaths of Despair in Montana

How Covid-19 and Deaths of Despair Combine to Affect Communities

How Montana’s Despair Deaths Have Intersected with the Pandemic’s Isolation

A Pastor Reflects on Suicide’s Impact in His Quaint Mountain Town — and Offers Hope

On a Mission to Stop Youth Suicide in Philadelphia

In Metro Atlanta, Two Communities — One White, One Black — Differently Grapple with Deaths of Despair

Podcast: Dying in Georgia — Fast or Slow, but Too Soon

Unpacking the Geography of America’s Youth Suicide Epidemic

Documentary Short: Teen Suicides in Rural America

The Pandemic and Deaths of Despair in Western Pennsylvania

The American Communities Report

A New Portrait of Rural America

Issue Contents

Overview

In the Field: Rural Regions and Points of Progress

Videos: Rural Report Findings and Discussion With Community Leaders

Interactive: Explore Rural America’s Diversity

Fulton County, Arkansas: Working Class Country

St. Francis County, Arkansas: African American South

Finney County, Kansas: Hispanic Center

Gove County, Kansas: Aging Farmland

Morton County, North Dakota: Rural Middle America

Todd County, South Dakota: Native American Land

Resources: Community Type Maps and Data

The American Communities Report

Health and Place in America, 2018

Issue Contents

The Findings

Overview

Interactive: Explore Health in Your County and Community Type

Dallas County, Texas: The Big City

Douglas County, Colorado: The Exurb

Hood River County, Oregon: The Hispanic Center

Jones County, Georgia: The African American South

Lake County, Ohio: The Middle Suburb

Index: Characteristics of 10 Community Types