ABSTRACT
HIGH-AMENITY RURAL AREAS, particularly those in the Rocky Mountains, in parts of the inland West, and along coastlines, have experienced unprecedented population growth rates in recent decades. The mountain West, home to many amenity-rich and thriving communities, was the fastest-growing region in the United States in the 1990s, with a population growth rate of 25 percent. U.S. coastal counties, including those along the Great Lakes, account for 51 percent of the total U.S. population and 57 percent of total income (Rappaport and Sachs 2001).
