4DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 110 238 i RC 008-685

AUTHOR Gore, Pete H.; And Others .1,

TITLE Quality of Rural Life: Assessing, the Structure andAvailability of Services and Amenities in Rural'Areas.

PUB DATENOTE

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

Aug 7532p.; Prepared for the annual meekting of the RuralSociological Society, San Francica, California,August 1975

J.

MF-$00.76 HC-$1.95 PLUS--POSTAGE*Community Development; *Community services;Comparative Analysis; *Evaluation Methods-; *RuralDevelopment; (Surveys; Theories*Crossroads Survey; New YorkIDENTIFIE

ABSTRACTCrossroads Survey, an adaptation of the

macrostructural nting techniques, was employed for purposes oftesting the comm velopment thery that services are added tocommunities in the say= quence. Dividing services and amenitiesinto 2 categories (commer 1 and public/professional), theCrossroads Survey was conduc in Clinton County and the Tug HillRegion (a 9 town-4 county area) New York State. Using telephonebooks and directories as secondar sources, surveyors conducted ,awindshield survey! of 81 Clinton Co and 21 Tug Hill crossroads,wherein those services visible ffbm a c were listed. Data analysisinvolved ordering commercial and public/pr essional services via theGuttman scale, a cumulative measure of comple ty, which revealed therelationship between the appearance of 1 service and that of another.'Comparative analysis of the 2 areas indicated that use of theCrossroads Survey and the Guttman scale could be most valuable in theassessment of services regardless of differences in politicalboundaries or population factOrs, since a comparison of the 2

_commercial scales revealed a'general patterning and a rank ordercorrelation of .77, and comparisdn of the 2 public/professionalservices scales showed a nk order correlation of .88. (JC)

********************44*************************************************Documemts acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished

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QUALITY OF RURAL LIFE:

ASSESSING 'ISE STRUCTURE AND AVAILAB ITY OF

SERVICES AND AMENITIES IN RURA AREAS

of

'Peter H. Gore

Jer4meSandaU

Eileen StommeS

fir,.

' g

U.StDEPARTMENT OFHEALTH,EDUCATION IL WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE Or

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON ORORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT PAINTSOP VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATE() DO NOTNECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFIC/711.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEOIJCATION POSITION OR POLICY

/Ins itutelor Man & Environment

State U iversity of New York at.PlattAbui'gh

and

epartment of Rural Sociology

ornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

re redP for they annual meeting of the RuralS

poc ological Society, Sa4. Francisco, California.

August , .1975

6 1102V

e

of

1.

11

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QUAIITY'OF RURAL LIFE:

ASSESSING THE STRUCTURE AND AVAILABILITY OF1

SERVICES AND AMENITIES IN RURAL AREAS

THE ISSUE

Community structure has been a .concern of soc.iol

ogists for many years, but often their stlidies 41,tre been

exOnsive, lengthy, unintelligible'to ordinary citizens,

and without much potential.for changing the sit*ation.

The recent resurgence of interest:,in rural areas,

in part as a result of the 1972 Rural Development Act

rof Conress, offers a new opportunity.tqapply, community

analysiS directly to the problem of improvini,the quality

_

of rural life.

V'Fifty years stgo rural a/sods were not :appealing

places to live, or at 4ast they didn't hnve the appeal

of the cities,,so the greet exodus from the countrysije

began. The migration t end, has only recentlyireversed-

(cf. Beale)1 but now many of tp services!andmuch of the

infratisuCture that were avail ble in :evert th4 "bad old

days" have evaporated from rural areas. :(see figure one)

How, then, can adequate services and amenities, from

doctors to laundromats to buses be made available so,

that rural quali oyeity of life impr,for thoSe who/,'

. live thei4e now and hopefully encourage fUrther, emigration

..

/ ;0"from metropblitan areas?

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Some of the Midwestern interurban lines that operated in 1912.

Figure 1. Public transportation routes in 1912

(Source: Frank Rowsome Jr., Trolley Car Treasury

New York: Bonariza Books, 1956. p. 14.0)

0004

THE PROBLEM

The service delivery' problem in rural areas is th:it

-3-

a

widely scatterer resources are spottily available aver

large distances. Iiiihat'is needed is an,efficient and econ-

omic method of/ assessing the availability of services

in order to provide the best strategy for improving

access. It must be noted here that the authors consider,.

"services" very broadly, from such commercial.enterprises

as-gas stations and grocery stores to transportation to

health and social services. It could be argued that the

provision ?f many of these services can b'e related direct-

ly-to market economics, but-for some facilities which,

society subsidizes, a method must be provided for assess-

ing needandyrescribing locations.

THE APPROACH,

One way of assessing 'the availability of institutions

Or services in an area is the macrostructural accounting

technique as practiced by Young and others.2 Thi4 method

was recently used by Young and Moore-to prescribe

'potentially successful locations of certain institutions

such as cllnics.3.

;

An adaptation of'the macroStructural accounting

technique called the Crossroads;Survey 'was carried out

in the Rural Development Program in'Clinton County,New

York during the Sumther and Fall of 1974. Basically, the

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specific objective of the Crossroads Survey was to deter-

mine the degree of access that rural residehts.hAve, to

needed services and amenities in order to develop the

necessary strategieis and programs to improve their quality

of life. .Services and amenities'wFi'e divided into two

major categories for the inventory and analysis:R2.. Commercial Services such as:

a. small grocery'b. gas station

-c. bard. hardware storee.; barberf. T-ecIption

2. Public and Professional Services such as:a. churchb. post officec. public schoold. doctore. lawyerf. dentistg.* clinic--

THEORY-.

One theory of community development is that services

are added to communities in the same sequence; fpranstance,

gas stations may be'present before barber shops. This

implies that all communities in 'a given areahave the

same service priorities and relative intensities of demand.

Of course, overlapping functions of some services and

ease of access in adjacent areas may-alter the pattern in

specific localities., If a large enough area, a county,

for' example, is inventoried, however, an ,overall pattern

0008

,

_5_

shquld emerge,. The theory can lip test through the use

of a statistical technique called Guttman scaling.

INITIAL DATA COLLECTION./

The object of the crossroads survey was to inventory _

in.an efficient way the services available in Clinton

kCounty with regard to the'localitiesyhere they exist.

Two secondary resources were available -- a telephone00

book and the Clinton County Council of Community Srvices

Directory. These resources, however,, were neither

exhaustive nor did they always distinguish among the

. various service lOcalities.:or "crossroads" within sub

areas of the county.' Inorder to deal With these short,

comings in the secondary sollt-c0, a "windshield survey"

of _81 Clinton County crossroads was, conducted. (see

figure two) This survey entailed drivin through'each4

of the crossroads. and listing all the services and organ.

izations that were evident upon sight. In the larger

crossroads, a windshield survey was relat4*ly difficult

and time consuming, bUt the great number`la slightly

populated localities in Clinton County made such a

survey a fairly simple matter overall. .Intthis manner,'

157 different, services were identified.

Fifty of the 81 crossroads-had at least one of .the

cataloged services; the other 31 ,had only houses or

stop signs. The services thus identified can be grouped

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Figure 2. &ossroads in,Clinton County

0 r)

.

0 = named crossroad

= crossroad withsore service

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A

under four general classfficationS commercial, :.procoss,

o

ionall'voluntary organizations and public-serviceP.,

-A listing of the services found with the survey is attached.

(Appendix A)

Two thingS are evident up0n examination of the items)

in thi list: 41?

-1. The items do not seem of equal significance when :'- we think of improving the quality of rural life.

For instance, a swimming pool construction firm. or a fitim that deals with granite seems less

worthyAof consideration'in our scales than doesa gro4ry store or a-pharmacy. However, a completecataleg ip desirable because it is useful to haveas much information as possible to help localcommunities make development ddcisions. It alsoeliminates the need for researchers to makeartifi6ial decisions in choosing what items toinclude.

2. Some of -thd items can be combined. For instance,general stores ancismall groceries serve muchthe same function, as do restaurants and diners.Auto dales includes used car firms: Hobby shonsrange from sewing and leathercraft to'rocktihopnand antiques. It might be that farm supply and,seed stores could be logically combined. Thelogic of possible combinations, s likely to bpdependent on the investigator's(firSt-handknowledge of the economic behav or,of arearesidents.

IS

he theory discussed previously maintains that the

services found in localities can be order, by lotality,

in a Guttman Scale that indicates a relatively fixed

sequence of community Service development; Guttman

Scale is a statistical device which is a cum lative

t

.0009

I

.memlure o/eomplexity. In the commercial scale presented

I

'below, Witis means that any crossroad Or place with a car

ropnir establishment will also have gas service and

esmk1 (irocery. .The appearanc of any particular servicer ,

e

(t s indicates not nly its prVsencp, but nlso predicts

(

that ther:servi.bes er doWh the kale will also be

preseht. The scale therefore gives the present level. s, --,

1

of complexity of 'crossroad or place/ °,

In idditiOn to the complexity of a ertain place, the

scale offers a historical view of the appearance of serr.

vices. It shows, by comparing the most omplex places

with the least complex places, the order in which

institutions or 4rvices appeared in the past - -anal cnn4

be expected to appear in the future.

The scale will show by gaps in. the expected pattern

e.

where a service/institution should exist, but is absent.

k

Its absence can be'attributed eitheer to a functional

alternative which fills the 'same service n ed, or to ,

fle existence o1 a like facility within eas access. It

can also show - -by a number of scale gapS followed by the

Presence of a service--when an institution e ists whic'h

te too far:out oh the scale for thp crossroad to s

it. In other words, the pattern of instituti

lefads up to and, provides /a base for, that servib

occurred. By examinin the leading

tution' present in a p rticular crossroadt1

onin

pport

w ich

h(0-not

ast insti

an predict

a

-9-

with some assurance which service will appear next.

This next service will `have a reasonable chance of success ,

since it has the institutional base to support it. An

example of how a simple scale would work follows. From

this scale with its array of services, a number of.r

inferences can be made. --ii-Y

it s

Ga4 Grocery Car, Beauty LiquorCommunity Station Store Repair, Shop Store

A X 0 9 X X X

B X X 0 XC 0 X XD X X

2 presence of service0 = absence of service

1. The feasibility of community A obtaining a'grocerystore should be investigated.

2. Community B may be able to support a car repairbusiness and, if it is an expanding area, aliquor store.

3. In the same mannervicommunity C should be ablto have a gas station and pos'sible a beauty shop.-

4. Community D might beg.able to support a° carrepair shop.

In sfiort, the Scale can be an immediate tool for'

economic development by helping to ascertain the

services a community could most feasibly attempt to add

to its array of services.

One constraint to these recommendations is that in

some communities local reasons may make,ths presence of

0 1 1

a,

"J

, ,%""

some service innovations unnecessary. For instance, a

local nonprofit group might be showing movies; localt.

1

conditions might rule out the profitable operation of a

coinoperated laundry. It could also be that two'4

/local

ities are essentially a single community and consideration;

of their services separately is= erroneous. Aiso, wind

shield surveys and secondary sources are not flawless 4

*means of compiling information. e

The Scales derived from the study should, therefore,..

be used as a guide or "tipoff" for local indepth ,. I

r ,4 ',, 1

economic feasibility studies to be done on tkWindicated,

6

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items, not as a.100,percent sure prediction)of-Miat..,'

.. 410services should,be added. In terms of specific 'recomm4ndations t'he best ptocedure is -,to examine the

,s, .)

'hot

scales for gaps and "lering edge" services. After these .

are est4blished, local . interviews should be conciliated,

to 'see why a service is'' not 'available locally or if' people, .

thought it was feasible:' If these indications are..°,, .

positive, a more detailed economic feasibility study

could be done and then some new service established.'. : .

.

CONCLUSIONS

The two Guttman /scales on the following pages'have

been derived from the data,

collectpdin the' windshield

$ survey as a preliTinary. indication of the.feasIbility

of service innovations.

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Champlain' -XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XKoeseville XXXX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX X

RbusesiPqnt: X X XX XX XXXXXX XX XX XX.XX XX XXXPeru X X X X X X XX

sXXXX XX XX XX XX XX XX X ®,

Dannemorn XX XX XX X4X XX XX XX XX XX OX OX X

AuSable Forks XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XXXChazy XX XX XX XX OX XX .XX XO XXEllenburg Depot XX XX XO X.X OX XX OX XXMooers Xx XX XO X'X XX XX XX

..,

,Ellenburg Center XX XX XO XO XWest Chazy _. X X X X X0 XXCadyville 1 XX XX XX XXBeekmantown CornersXX0XXX'Merrill X X

0

XX XX XX., Moffitsville X 0 OX XX ,

Clintonville X 0 X X X

Clayburg XO XX X.Redford XX 0 x 0 X

Mooers Forks XX X X X r

Lyon Mountain OX XO X X X

So.. 1attsborgh X 0 X X

,Churubusco X X X"k.

.W. Plattsburgh X X X X X X

Picketts,Crs. X X I X /

\Schuyler Falls X 0

Sciota' X 0 7 X

Morrisonville X X X X X

Saranac X X X X

Forest X X Y

Altona I X X X ,X

Black Brook X.-

. Coopersville X

Crowlbym Crs. X .

EllenbUrg Crs. X X X

Harkness X .,

Perry Mills X X

Port Kent X

Riverview X

Standish1!

Woods Millb

AuSable Chasm X

Cannon Crs.

Champlain Park . X

Dwyers Crs. X

Inraht:

Ledger ere.

4

X

X

Figure ).

Guttman Scale of Commercial Services

in Clinton County

Coefficient of Scalability: .69

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4.4.C.)SiOVE

= 0 1.6...I

C.) 114 M FKOOSOVIIIC X X X

Rouses Feint X X X X

AuSable Forks X X X X

Champlain X, X X 0

Dannemora X . X X X

Ellenburg.Depot "X kx -x' . 0

Mooers , X 0

Chas)! X X X ,X

'Peru X' X X x

Lyon Mountain X ,fX X 0

West Chazy X C x' 0

Altona X 0, X

Morrisonville 1XXXCadyville s. I X X 0

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X X X X X

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XXX XXX X 00 X X

X X 0X X X

X X X

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'Ellenburg Center 0 x 0 X

Churubuscor .X X X X

Mooers Forks K X X

Saranac X ,X

Ellenburg Corners X X X

ApSable Chasm X X

Port Kent X °

Redford . 'X X

Schuyler Falls X X

Clintonville

Black Brook

Coopersville.

Harkness

Jericho

Peasleeville

Sciota

Standish

Beekman Corners

So. Plattsburgh

Cannon Corners

Champlain Park

Clayburg

Croniley Corners

Dwyers Corners

E. Beekmantown

Perry Mills . X

Picketts Corners X

Forest

Hawkeye

High Bank

Honeymooers Corners

'X

X

X

X X X

00.4

,0 M0 0 0.0

0.0VCWOC hN mr

XXO XXXXX XXX ,X x x

X X X

X

X

Figure 4.

Guttman Scale of Public & Professional 4ervices

in Clinton County

Coefficient'of scalability: .77

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13

By looking at the commercial scale, for instance,

we might 'bnclUd-tht Keeseville would be able to support

a copying service; Dannemora should be able to "fillih"

the gap created by. an absence of a recreational facility

(bowling alley, pool hall). The seriesf gaps for a

liquor store and for gas service are alao suggestions for

possible innovations.

When coupled frith demogra d geographic data,

some service absences noted e commercial, scale are

glaring; Lyon Mountain is sizable community-: l'6cated about

from its nears service center, but 4t has no

grocery store.

In the public and

of the gaps indicate

fessional services scale, some

not be filled in because the tare

politically mandated, f r example, town offices and public

school. On the other h d, the scale does show that

communities like Dannemora and Mooers should be able to

support a doctor, and that the feasibility of a clinic

in Keeseville should be investigated. It is thilsort

of "tipoff" which the Guttman scale technique Performs

best. It can predict, based on the pattern of complexity

present on a number of communities what institutions or

services could be expected in communities that have a

given level of differentiation.

The commercial services scale correlated with the

public and professional services scale at .73 which indicates

-14

that the two cOmplexit measures tended to corroborate

one nother. Th\sy alsO,correlated with population approx,I

imat y 75 to .80 wnich is to be expected.

nother way o view the correlation is graphically

in' f& e five. Xn this drawing, the two scales are

superi ose&on a ouny map and areas'of,coincidence are

readily pparent.

Als easily, identified are those c unities whose

commercia services cored higher than the public'and

professional ones and viceversa. These discrepancies can

immediately become the focus for local discussion and

planning. In fact, it is hoped that the information

will be useful to local leaders such as town supervisors,

county legislators, planners, and others interested in

stimulating-community economic development, by assisting'

them temeet local service needs. It might also provide'

at least a partial guide to investment opportunitiei In the

county for local entrepreneurs ., The data gathered in

this project is available for all to use in whatever

manner.most:useful to them.

In summary, the crossroads inventory in this case

produced a large amount of usef 1 economic and social data

for a rural county at a minimum of expense:

, JD

Data collection:

Preparation of.; Tor computer: 80 hours

60 hours1000 mile 4" driving

Analysis of data: 40 hours

11;

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A

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S. so.

&ma .1 . I .I ,, .

-r___..........._. _ Im =, 64 4nm. OWNED 010, A, .4hli40t?". _rte

P-- Id........

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"4. AIO'St' .r...

4

=NOM OM= Ow* 4.0

I S

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. Figure 5.

Clinton County Commercial Services Icale

superimposed to the left of the

Public and Professional Services Seale.

-16o

In many cases the data collection can be pprformed by

local volunteers which would keep the cost, of'such a study.

low. (See Appendix B f detailed instructions on how do-

conduct a Crobsroads Su vey.)

CASE II - TUG HILL REGIONAL STUDY.

As a corrobor-ationLand further eestr,of the Crossroads_

technique a similar study was undertakenjp the nine core(

towns of the Tut" Mill Region of New York Stat:e'hetween

Syracuse and Watertown. In this case,tYv initial invQns

tory data was gathered by local planning officials and thenF:

analyzed at Cornell University.

,S ALE RSULTS'AND CONCLUSIONSry

The Tug Hill windshield survey of .nine towns'with 21

c ossroads of imnortance resulted in two complOdtSr 5cales.

( ec figures 6 and 7) In contrast to,tho Clintdn County

1

scales, the data from thp Tug Hill reginnancluded some

places outside of the defined area of -.tudy hepaurr, the

nine towns in the core region are so thinly settled and have

so-few services,

The commercial scale shows that most specialized;

services come from outside the nine town. region. (See map

rin figure 8) Lowviile, Pulaski, Adams, Boonville and Camden

provide most commercial services. The crossroads within

the area provide seririees such as beauty parlors, barS,-

auto repairs which require a.small population base. The

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Lemollls X X X X X X I X X I I I I I I I X X X i X X I Z * * ! * XIII XX Jy f XXX IX 1.XIIIII 4Pulaski I I I I X X X X X X X X X X X I X I I I X X X Z * * * * XXXI X X XXOXX 10X XXXIISoonyIllm I XI IX X 2X'Xx IX XIX XX XXIXXX XX X XX XXXI XX XXXXX XII XXX°Adam , 2 X X X X X X X X I I I X X X X X XOIXX X XXI XX XXXX X X XXXXX XXICamden X I X 1NX I I X X X X 1 ' X X X I X XXIII X XXI IX XXIX X X XXXILyons Palls X X 0 XX IOX XIII XXX OX X00XXO X00 XX XXXISandy Crook XXI) XX XIO 2IXX XIX X0 XIIXXX XXI

/ ConstablosIlli X X 0 X I X 1 0 2 X X 0 10 0 2 1 X

Lama ' X X X X X X X X 0 X X X I X I X

O1oft1111 201 XI ZOX X X 2

111111sastowm 1 X X0 XX III I X X.2

X

Redfield i I I I X X I I,.. . X I IBarnes Corners I X I X I

4Yost Itsrtlnabors 0 0 X X

Nen Boston 00X I040401* 2I X

foramsThompson Corners I

Iartinstrang IEast MorsinsburgZ

North O000ls I

4

Figure 6.

Guttman Scale of Commercial Servicesinthe Tug Hill Region

3(Coefficient of -111abilityl .72)

00.1,9

6

.

Lowville

Booneville

Camden

Pulaski

Adams

Sandy Creek

Lacona

Martinsburg

Constableville

Williamstown o

Florence.

Glen field

Lyons Falls -

... Redfield

Osceola '

..,

c0a )

..41.

....o omo

m s. o

.c .. 't*': Ap. "21° t' I. il LI.; -4

O V O. 0-1

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0 . . 0 0

0 1. to 0. .. 1. .1 .1 A'x xi If, g

,=,

18

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X X X X X' X X X X XX X 0 X X X X 0 0 X 0 X X

X X XX XX...XXX XXXX XXX XI 0 X X X xxX X xx xxxxl xxxxxxx xxxX ix xx rx xxi xxxx xxo xxxxx xx xo xxx xxxx xxx xxx,o xx xoxxx X X

xjo xx x x oxox, o.x xx x

x0 XX XX X(

X IX X XXXX. X 0 0 X X

X X 0 .X X

X 0 -x.x X

X oxxxxx x

Barnes Corners X Xti

.xWest Martinsburg 0 X

New Boston X

Thompson Corners

East Martinsburg

North Osceola

ti

Figure 7.c>

iluttman Scale of Public anti)Professional Services

an the Tug Hill Region

(00off dent of Scalability: .72)

020 (""'-----)

XXX XX

X

THE JUG HILL REGI9N-

CROSSROADS.

Sandy Cr:eek4

Locono

Pulaskit

Adorns`4..°. f

eft on oftLo Viville

-4I ----'"14031i-BPstgnme

II I West Mortinstiurg

I I .East Martinsburgalb1 I Marli nsburg

,

r 7.-1 I' ... Glenfield

r 1 1 A %

tf ,..184 t/1134 fitosceore-i

%-

'.%°"°, ..

Redfield II / .eonstobleville , .

I I, lv*lb i Oscolcv %%0

e BoonvilleWilliamstown ! Florence)

IV

1;% .

jib

I41'Geornes Comers

% ThOpson Corers%,64161

Camden

Figure 8/. Map of the Tug* Hi/.1 Region

0021

services within.-tbeTeglOn generally call, for a lower.

capital investment, and can be maintained by a.very small

O

o6

pa

work ortanizOtion.sUch.as,a familyLox by oneiperson. If..°

not supported entirely, by such a businRss, the owner/

operator can supplementhis.income by a second job. The

services offeredoutside the aria; of the other band, require.

a larger population base andes larger', capital investment.

,Full time work at the serVicells in occupation is often6

-required. Examples are clothing store, department store,

s ..

bank and furniture store. .11owevervsince then least complex''

6rossroads (North Qscebla,, East,Martinsburg, Martinsburg,

'Thompson Corners, Florence) have access to .th:-., more complex

villages of Lowville, Pulask;diAdams anthCamden, these.

service.., . . . .

service deficiencies can be corrected., .:

The leading items_ on the,commertial wile for the ,..', -

least complex crass s, (Flo-,

tence,'Thorilpson Corners, Martins--.,- , . -

\.

burg; East artinsburg, North OsC9ola) are small grocery,

hptei, beau ty parloro'gas, bai4, fahn supply, auto repair.

Given the observations on small population base, capital

investment, and small personnel requirements, the most

plausible "next" services wolild seem to be 'small grocery,

gas station? bar and auto repair. Howev.erithe question

of viability arises as thes e least`E.-

omplex crossroads-41ree

located relatively close to more complex plfices which

provide tie services. Easy accessability may be why the.

service had not appeared rin the less complex crossroads.

4

s.

a

21

The public and professional scale duplicates the

pattern of the commercial scale. Again most" ervice

provided from outside he nine town area. The service

provided within the area

Fire Department, Post Off rice,

are

are government mandated servic

halls. The services provid

while including governme\t ma

such as dentist,

are supplied by the pri

p blicand professional se ices fd nd in the area surveyed,

,out ,of 254or 56 percent are gover ent provided.

The public and profedtionat.scale fers relatively

same prospect as does, the commercial scale. The leading

5:'

school, town and municipal:-

by the,surrounding area,

dated services, are services

and veterinarians which

con ic sector.' Of the 25

item are lawyer, newspaper, doctor, town gara and veter

inarian. Since they are private sector services rat

than publicly'mandated, they need a certain population ba

to survive. Again, the least complex crossroads ( Net,04oston,

Thompson Corners, West Martinsburg, East Martinsburg, North

Osceetola) have access to-more complex centers'from which the

absent services are available.' Figure nine shows the

relaltive complexity of the 6ommunities1 dn.the two scales,

commercial services to the left and publit and professional

serviCes.to the right.

The two scales rank the crossroadel-in approximately

-the same order. The two ranks showed a correlation of .76

:indicating that a town with a high complexity on;ithe'

0023

fiA

-.22

THE TUG HILL REGfeIN

COMMERCIAL SERVI

PUBLIC AND PR FESSION RVICES

Figure 9.

Tug Hill Region Guttman scales superimpos

0024

-23-

I

commercial scale also shows high complexity on the public

d professional scale. A townproviding:an array of

c mmercial services also offers an array of public and

professional services.

A final obstirvation on functional alternatives can

be added heie.' In the case of the gaps/in the spe.sev-.-

eral reasons could be given:t,,A,gap may appear irthe service

is available in another forM.'For example, Lyons Falls

lacks a bar. The same function may be filled by a diner/ti

restaurant with an on-premises liquor license which is

present., Or, alternatively, two crossroads may be

1 bated in such close proximity that-one service fills

the needs for both crossroads. An example is the Sandy

Creek-Lacona combination. SandyCreek lacks a gas statipn:

Lacona has one. Lacona lacks an auto repair and barber:

Sandy=CMpei-provides those-services. Since Sandy Creeko

and Lacona border'each other, it cannot be said Lacona

- lacksthe services Sandy Creek provideslor vice versa.

DISCUSSION

Since the scales turned out so well in both-of the

areas, a certain'face validity may be ascribed to the

.CrOssroads technique. What is more, the two areas

examined, were quite. different: one, Clinton County, is

a

Hi

ingle pdlitical unit; the nine core towns in. title Tug

1 Region are parts of four different counties. The

0025

a

e

4

4

.

Hz,,,J. ,

,;; r.-.L.1 .seems to w'rk for assessing serlfices

regardless of political boUndaries..

I

On-a more analytic no'

.technique then,

e, a com arison of t

commercial scale reveals general: terning.., ,

items: ,l'oott.ind iteM are at the most prevale t side

two

e

,.A.of both sCAles while 'rec eation and clothing item's` -pppear

at the more re tri Among,the" 24 itemk_which-,'

were the 'same' on both sc ere was a rank order

.correlation of .77,.not too bad a correspOndende,

ten gives the actual ra,ks for each of the'

Figure

It does seem, ther} thAt commercial services pccur in

1

much the same patterns, not necessarily dictated by

geography or populatiOn.

A similar clamparativo analysi:lifor thr.public and

pmfessional services scales showed ncorrolltion .8A.

CLINTCN COUNTY

s

churchpost officfire static

publib school?town hall

doctor

i. lawyer

,,Oft'USDA

clinic

.newspapqr

optometrist

RANK TUG HILL

1 ch0Ch

24

4 town hall

3 5 I school

4 2 f post ofi'inm

3 fire .statii5n6 library.

7 7 doctor.

8 8 lawyer

9 10 *newspaper

.10 13 dentist.

11 12 optometrist

12 9 'Clinic

13 11 ``USDA

,J

D

.4Y

( -25

Figure 10.r's%

Rank order of Commercial Serviceg

in Clinton County and Tug Hill

CLINTON COUNTY RANK,"

4small. grocery 1

gas 2

3

2

car repair 3 .. 7.

diner _ 4 . 1

bar 5 5

liquor 6 15

beauty shop 7 4

lumber 8 14

funeral 9 17

insurance 10 - 9

hobby ai 6

hardware 12 10

barber 13 12

laundromat 14 18

batik 15 19

department store 16 23

construction 17 16

pharmacy 18 11'

recreation 19 13

large grocery 20 8

clothing 21 24

:plumbing and heating 22 20 '

radio TV . '23 221 4

dry cleaner 24 21

4.

01)27

TUG HILL

restaurant/diner

gas

L small grocery

beuty shop

bar

hobby

auto repair

large grocery

insurance

hardware

pharmacy

barber

recreation

lumber

liquor

construction

funeral

laundromat

bank

plumbing and heating

ndry cleaer.

radio TV

department store

clothing

-26-

SUMMARY

Accessibility to services in these studies has been

shown to .be a lunation of community structure -- and to,a ,

certain extent, the distance one is from a more complex

or differentiated community. The argument should not be

made, based-On these studies, that .every crossroads shoUld

have every item, or service. Rather, the crossroads survey

technique can point out where some service could likely

be supported, but is not present. The question of the

best balance between many subrcommunities with few services

in each versus a few highly differentiated central comm

unities offering a large array of services is not 14thin

the scope of this study. It is a'questiom which must be

increasingly asked, though, as transportation costs increase

and rural areas attempt to become more viable and "quality"

places to live.

The further dimension, of quality of service or even

access in terms of money or appointment time is another

This paper offers thearea for further investigation.. ,

starting point for community analysis of acc1ess to services.

Some understanding of the community s' Cture and locationr ,

of services can be obtained by using tie technioNes

described. Each 6ommunity must then examine its unirfue

situation to discover and plan the best way to provide

needed services to its citizens.

O

Commercial

-27-

Appendix A

9Crossroads Survey

Clinton County Services Inventory

C-1generqrstoke.

gas puilip

gas service station

insurance /realty

recreation (boking, pool)

movie theatre

rive -in' theatre

funeral home

bar

motel/hotel

hardware

restaurant

diner/coffee.sh0

auto sales

auto repair

furniture

beauty parlor

barber shop

coin-op.laundry

dry cleaner & laundry8

ti

pharmacy

liquor store

large grocery store (chain)

small grocery store

clothing

'umber, building materials

bank

credit assn.

appliances 7

variety store

sporting goods

Office supply

watch repair

motorcycles

tourist attraction

car wash

radio & TV

fuel oil

seedsmen

Agway

hobby

granite

4

'At

manufacturing, packing, bottling.boat sales i

farm implements.

lawn &.garden im lements

telephone corporation

fast food

NY State Electric & Gas

trucking.

dairy pkoducts

apples

construction/excavation

publishing

customs brokerj

research]

photographer

copying

0029 s.

Commercial (con'0

plumbing pr. heating

department store

mobile homes

trailer court

Western Union

florist

auction place

snowmobiles

general.repair

nursery

salvage

taxi

janitorial

swimming pools

contractors

gifts

4

Voluntary Organizations

American Legion

Rotary

Knights of Columbus

Lions

Kiwanis

businessthen's assn.

RighttoLife

sports club

golf club

civic assn.

Masons

VFW

Elks

other voluntary organizations

;8Ap&hdix A

(codrt)

0630

Professional

architects

Al TechnIcian

lawyer

clinic

Physician

optometrist

Public Services

rest home

rehabilitatiol

newspaper

church

fire department

Town Offices

Garage/Shed (Town, Villag,e)

park

library

power station

town hall

youth center

parochial school-

public school.

school district offices

NYS Dept. of EnvironmentalConservation

State Police

Correction Facility

Courty Cffices

County Highway Dept.

Post Cfice-9 fa

USDA

Customs

Village Offices

29Appendix B

Some Suggested. Steps and Hints' forConducting a Windshield Survey

is Check the secondary sources (telephone books, commercialdirectories, etc.) first to get an idea of the numbPrs andkinds of services in given a=reas. This will give you agood idea of what to expect when driving around the area.

2. Obtain a good map of the planningiarea, preferably one thatincludes the names of all crossroads that are named. Atthevery least, the map should include all roads, from inierstate.highways to unimproved earth roads.

Carefully plan the routes-in undertaking the, Windshieldsurvey. Usually, the less' backtracking one does, the more1pcalities can be covered in the allocated time, and the lessgas will be consumed.

As you dirve through a locality note the full name of thevarious establishments and services so that later confusionswill be minimized; e.g. Sample's General Store, Barn DoorGrill.

5. It is important to drive along all routes that pass throughg locality, for they are where the commercial services arelikeiy to be located. rn the l'grger localities, one mustcheck the parallel streets on'either side of the thoroughfares. When passing through intersections, glance down toboth ends of the street being crossed; churches are frequently located in residential sections. Of course, it isalso possible one will turn up a beauty parlor that operatesout of someone!s front porch.

6. Some firms will be located outside the legal or apparentlimits of-a locality. It becomes a problem, thin, to attachthe service to a locality. The safest tactic seems to beto exactly note its-setting and attach it to a localitywhen supplemental information has been obtained.

7.' After the drive through survey has been completed, crosscheck this listing with the secondary sources to fill-outthe inventory and make it more complete.

1

MI31

.t

' r

-30-

References

1. Calvin Beale, "V ere are all ,e,people going;Demographic tren s." Working aper, National Confcr%nce on Rural America, Washington,j). C., April, 1975.

2. Frank W. Young, "A Pioposal for cocppera4ve cross.

cultural research on Intervillage Systems." HumanOrganization, Vol. 25, 1966, pp. 42-50.'*

Frank W: Young and Isao Fujimoto. -- 'Social Differentiation in Latin American communities." EconomicDevelopment and Cultural Change,, Vol. 11', 1965,pp. 344-52.

-A,

. Dan E. Moore, Philip Taietz, and 'Frank W. Young,"Location of Institutions in Upstate New York.:Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station,Search Bulletin, Vol: 4, No. 12,-1974, ,p9. 7.

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