Abstract
During the 1970's, new patterns of nonmetropolitan population growth have appeared in the United States. Since 1970, metropolitan to nonmetropolitan migration has substantialy exceeded the historically greater stream of migration from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan areas. In many parts of nonmetropolitan areas, the 1970's have been a decade of sudden population growth in small, once stable communities. Some population gains in nonmetropolitan areas have been due to the familiar metropolitan overspill into adjacent areas, but others are the product of resurgence of growth in remote rural areas. Changes in American life style make up the important factor of this new pattern. They include the trend toward earlier retirement, and expansion of retiree's roles as consumers, and an increased orientation at all ages toward leisure activities, centered on amenity rich areas outside the range of metropolitan commuting. In 1960's, the South experienced substantial inmigration, which increased in the 1970's. The changeover to net in-migration in the South was brought about largely as a result of changes in migration patterns of whites. Black net out-migration from the South appears to be changing in much the same way as white migration did earlier. The return migration to the South has been an important factor in changing the South's overall migration pattern. From the recent trends in Southern economic development and decreasing racial discrimination in the labor market, we can expect the expansion of return migration to the South.
