ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the concept of community. The diversity found among rural communities extends to the problems felt as each responds to the environmental, social, and economic change under way. Many people imagine a rural America characterized by farming, homogeneous cultures, and close-knit communities. Natural capital includes the air, water, soil, wildlife, vegetation, landscape, and weather that surround us and provide both possibilities for and limits to community sustainability. Communities within commuting distance of large metropolitan areas, such as Eatonton, face a different set of problems. Urban sprawl threatens their natural, financial, and social capital. Communication technologies have had an even greater impact on reducing isolation. These three elements of community—location, social system, and common identity—are increasingly separate. Rural communities have never been insulated from the social and economic change under way in the broader society. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
