Forget the past; rural communities trying to draw tourists with novelty of present-day life

While many rural towns try to draw tourists by re-creating the past or claiming to be the birthplace of someone famous, a small struggling town in New York is following a new trend in rural America, in which towns market the present, offering tourists a glimpse into the culture of what's happening now, Patricia Leigh Brown reports for The New York Times. (NYT photo by Nathaniel Brooks: Showing how to cultivate seven acres of vegetables)

In New Lebanon, located in the Hudson Valley, locals are pushing “Behold! New Lebanon,” where "ticket-buying visitors are promised an unvarnished glimpse of present-day country culture, organizers say, which includes being ferried by school buses to working farms, forests, kitchens, corrals and a speedway," Brown writes. "There they will 'behold' guides like Cynthia Creech, showing off her genetically rare breed of Randall cattle; Eric Johnson, training Border collies to shoo Canada geese off public fields; and Melissa Eigenbrodt, the local postmaster, who can demonstrate the art of tracking deer—without a gun—by following hoof scrapes along the trail."

"If the effort succeeds, New Lebanon will join an emerging rural renaissance—a movement that some are calling 'rural by choice'—in which small towns are reinventing themselves by embracing local skills and artisanship," Brown writes. "Across the country, communities are trying a variety of approaches with varying success, from designated downtown culinary districts (Bridgeton, N.J.), to artist collaboratives spearheading small-town revivals (Arnaudville, La.), to the annual Fermentation Fest in Reedsburg, Wis., which pumps roughly $300,000 into the local economy." So far, the museum project has netted $55,000, charging $15 to $25 for day tickets or $40 for the weekend.

Other areas have already found success with similar projects, Brown writes. "In Green River, Utah (population 953), a group of Auburn University design and architecture graduates and former AmeriCorps/Vista volunteers started the nonprofit Epicenter in 2009 (motto: 'Rural & Proud'). They have restored 14 houses and run school arts programs and sponsor a 'frontier fellowship' for artists in residence."

"In Reedsburg (population 9,000), between Chicago and Minneapolis, Donna Neuwirth, 60, and Jay Salinas, 55, are urban transplants who started as farmers but went beyond food, creating the nonprofit Wormfarm Institute to develop what they call a regional culture-shed," Brown writes "The Fermentation Fest—which includes artist-designed farm stands, a drive with scenic overlooks of art installations in fields, and opera performed in a hay wagon—drew 12,000 people last October." (Read more)