MOVING TO THE RURAL GREAT PLAINS: POINT OF ORIGIN DIFFERENCES IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Authors

Randolph L. Cantrell, Nebraska Rural Initiative, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Bruce B. Johnson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Charlotte Narjes, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Rebecca J. Vogt, Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2008

Comments

Published in Great Plains Research, 18:2 (Fall 2008) 155-63. Copyright © 2008 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

Census data demonstrate that the movement of population in the rural Great Plains is not one-way. People do indeed move into as well as out of the region. Past research has identified perceptions of the quality of life in rural areas as an important consideration in the decision to migrate to such areas. However, those studies have not segmented the population of migrants in such a way as to fully inform efforts to recruit new residents. Using data collected from a survey of new Nebraska Panhandle residents, this study describes the motivations of recent migrants from both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan points of origin, and identifies significant differences in how both push and pull factors are perceived.