Small communities are generally agriculturally based towns that appeal to those seeking a slower pace of life and would ideally like to keep it that way. However, many of these communities are having trouble maintaining that way of life, as road, sewer and water infrastructure breaks down.

Maintenance of public swimming pools, emergency services, wastewater treatment, and clean water requirements are significant infrastructure and service costs that are insensitive to population size. The costs are as high for small towns and big cities alike. Required infrastructure improvements for the potability of water levy the same burden of potability, despite a huge discrepancy in the number of rate payers. Additionally, residents leave town for shopping, professional services, and employment, thereby increasing travel and all the congestion and air quality impacts that go with it. They also leave much of their tax dollars in the coffers of other communities.

These infrastructure and service needs often leave small communities feeling forced to incentivize new development in order to pay for improvements and add enough housing units to attract commercial and professional services. This development, however, also consumes and impacts much of the agricultural land that creates the base economy for many of these communities, creates more traffic from long distance commuting to regional job centers, and diminishes the small-town character.