Despite the recent wind events, on a late fall or early winter season, Southwest Minnesota and its rural communities can at times be pleasantly quiet. Farm equipment has been quieted due to completion of a successful harvest; with summer ending, diminished vacation and weekend activity means less road traffic; from mid-October through mid-March, waterfowl and birds are in their southern destinations; Fall means families are focused on school and the routine and regular schedules that follows. Marshall, surrounded by agriculture and whose business and industry reflects the influence of agriculture certainly can be classified as a rural community.

Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that after a decade of overall population loss from 2010 to 2020, nonmetropolitan areas grew at a faster rate than metropolitan areas during 2020-21 due to a sharp turnaround in migration flows occurring in the first year and a half of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) counties are defined by the Office of Management and Budget and include a combination of open countryside, rural towns (places with fewer than 2,500 people), and urban areas with populations less than 50,000 that are not part of larger labor market areas (metropolitan areas).

Some of the most common reasons given on why a community was chosen as a place to live included a simpler pace of life and less congested place to live, closer proximity to relatives, and ability to spend more quality time with family.

Paulsen, a marketing and research firm and Audience Audit conducted a survey on the top reasons that survey respondents said that they moved to a rural area which included: 

• More land or space around home 

• Fewer people 

• More home for less money 

• Lower cost of living 

• No traffic 

How does Marshall fare on some of these top reasons for migration to rural areas?

Population density is the average number of people per unit, usually miles or kilometers, of land area. Admittedly, most communities want high population density, adding more homes and population can help support our economic development like local retail businesses that depend heavily on foot traffic and hardware stores, bakeries, and restaurants as well.

Marshall’s population density near 1,360 per square mile, is far less than larger cities. But this lesser density means the amount of space available among our residents is greater, and with that comes greater access to green space and more opportunity for growth. Recognizing most of the people you see in public is also an advantage of smaller population density and building community comes easier.

Lower population density contributes positively to other factors, like commute times. Throughout the United States, the average commute time works out to about 26 minutes one-way. In Marshall, congestion is not a problem. Marshall is home to one of the shortest average commute times in the Minnesota at 11.9 minutes one-way to work.

Cost of living is an important factor and rural areas like Marshall experiences a lower cost of living. Knowing cost of living factors is important to employers who want to set wages that attract and retain good workers; job seekers want to know which kinds of work will cover family costs in their county; and economic development leaders want to know if the economy’s engine of consumer expenditures is running well. Even though the cost of living has increased over the past year with costs up in many areas, Lyon Co. had a lower cost of living when compared to the State of MN. Marshall also has a lower median house value than the state making home ownership much more affordable.

No place is going to be completely without crime but desiring to settle down somewhere that has low crime rates is a high factor of where someone lives. Marshall’s crime rate is lower than approximately 47% of Minnesota communities. Further, compared to other communities of similar population size, Marshall has a crime rate that is noticeably lower than the average. This means that for comparably sized cities, Marshall is safer than most.

The Marshall community means less crowds, more quiet time, and reduced stress. Paul Gruchow, wrote in Necessity of Empty Places that “Noise closes in an environment, silence opens it.” This is a great time of year and Marshall is a great place to enjoy the natural surroundings and take the opportunity to experience that “silence.”

— Sharon Hanson is the city administrator for the city of Marshall