Special Project summary. The future of the Chippewa Valley depends in part on many smaller communities that strengthen the regional economy and preserve its culture and character. As the percentage of people working in agriculture and manufacturing declines, leaders in area communities large and small must devise strategies to better position themselves in this rapidly changing environment.
To explore how one city has been affected by the changing economy and is trying to respond, the Leader-Telegram focused on Durand, the Pepin County seat and a close-knit community. The project, titled "Small Towns: Fork in the Road," illustrates how Durand, like so many other communities, faces important challenges and decisions as it tries to retain its character and commerce.
"Durand facing challenges familiar across Midwest".
Excerpt: Number don't lie. The numbers show the issues extend beyond just the business community, as the city's population has declined steadily since peaking at 2,103 in 1970. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the number of residents had fallen to 1,859, a drop of nearly 12 percent, by 2008.
By contrast, the population climbed 27 percent in Wisconsin and 50 percent in the United States during the same period.
At the same time, those who remain in Durand are getting older, with the median age increasing from 34.3 in 1970 to 41.1, or about five years higher than the state median, in 2000. Along with that, enrollment in the Durand school district has tumbled from about 1,500 in 1986 to 1,004 this year, bringing the budget pain that comes with the corresponding drop in state aid.
Other headings:
"Many graduates nostalgic about their hometown, but few consider it a place to settle down".
Excerpt: A decade after graduating from Durand High School, two-thirds of the class of 1999 no longer calls the Durand area home.
Five out of six members of the class don't work in Durand or the immediate area.
The results of a recent Leader-Telegram online survey of the 122-member class of 1999 drive home a key challenge facing leaders in many Wisconsin small towns: how to rejuvenate their communities by retaining more of their young people.
A full three-quarters of the 45 respondents indicated Durand doesn't offer adequate job opportunities in their field.
"Chippewa River critical to Durand's tourism, economic development".
Excerpt: Mayor Gerald Bauer acknowledged that some residents also refer to the city's position nestled between the Chippewa River and surrounding limestone bluffs as being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The assessment comes from the idea that those geographic features, though aesthetically pleasing, leave the city little room to grow and limit the amount of relatively flat land sought by industry.
But in recent years city fathers have come to realize that those supposed disadvantages have the potential to form the foundation upon which to build a new local economy.
They envision using the Pepin County seat's scenic spot along the shimmering Chippewa River - one of the central reasons residents cite for cherishing the quality of life in Durand - as the anchor of an effort to get more people to visit. In short, city leaders hope to reinvent Durand as a tourist town.
"You don't get here by accident," Durand school Superintendent Jerry Walters said. "A small town like Durand needs to have something that makes people want to come here. And then once they're here, we've got to have something that makes them want to stay."
"Farm country around Durand suggests the industry is holding its own ".
Excerpt: A snapshot of farming in Pepin County, according to the 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture.
54.6 - Average age of principal farm operators, up from 49.8 in 1997.
503 - Farms, 78 more than 1997, although slighly more than half of those operators declared farming was not their primary occupation.
252 - Farms with annual sales of less than $10,000, up from 125 in 1997.
$105,795 - Average market value of products sold per farm, up 53 percent from 1997.
108,426 - Acres of farmland, up 4 percent from 104,044 acres in 1997.
"Natural attractions, entrepreneurial spirit offer future for Durand".
Excerpt: "Durand's strength is people who want to live in a small community that's not too far from a big city; that is, if you call Eau Claire and Menomonie big cities," he [Pepin County Board Chairman Pete Adler] suggested.
"People who live here tend to stay here, if they can," he added. "They want a small-town atmosphere with a small-school population."
Adler said there is an "active group of people who want to do something to keep Durand vital," including artisans, business owners and civic leaders.
"Art, music, movies — Durand covers all bases ".
Excerpt: For a town of 2,000 souls, Durand boasts a thriving arts scene. Nestled along the Chippewa River, the Pepin County community has several entertainment options, including a movie theater, art gallery, blues festival and summer concert series.
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