ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a foundation upon which more definitive community research may be built. It argues that communal association not only persists but may even flourish under conditions associated with rapid growth and community change. The chapter presents the argument that, contrary to many interpretations of the boom town phenomenon, communal association not only persists under conditions of rapid growth, but may actually be strengthened and flourish. The lack of understanding about growth-related shifts in communal relations is also attributable to a reliance on a linear development model by many community sociologists. The body of empirical evidence generated by boom town research provides only limited insights into many of the dimensions of community change often suggested as consequences of rapid population growth by the linear development and disorganizational approaches. New residents provide a multitude of different potential social contacts, contributing to an expansion in the range of "functional groups" present in the community.
