Burns Boosts Rural Iowa

If you haven't noticed, Doug Burns of the Daily Times Herald in Carroll is making a name for himself while keeping rural communities like Carroll on the map. Recently Doug was a guest on NPR's "On Point" radio show giving his view on the vitality of rural america, particularly rural Western Iowa. Listen to the interview here. He also is a contributer to City View in Des Moines and The Daily Yonder on the web.

The focus of the NPR segment was a new book, "Hollowing Out the Middle, The Rural Brain Drain and What it Means for America", by Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas. This couple spent some time in an Iowa community of 2,000 in order to get a feel for what life is like there (fictionally named "Ellis"). I'm reading the book now, interested in the contrast and comparison to another popular book about the vitality of the midwest, "Caught in the Middle" by William Farnsworth. (check your Chamber member bookstore for these books).

Your thoughts about the vitality of rual western Iowa is welcome. Just click to comment on this post!