Here is another nice resource from Stanford University’s Rural West Initiative. From Cow Town to Boom Town is a five minute video capturing the stories of people who experienced the growth of Pinedale, Wyoming when natural gas wells were constructed. The stories capture the positive and negative aspects of “progress” coming to a small town.

The Boom: Pinedale, Wyoming in Transition from BillLaneCenter on Vimeo.

Applications for Education
While this video focuses on a western town that was affected by a natural gas boom, the stories of change caused by progress could apply to almost any small town that suddenly finds itself with an economic windfall. For example, a casino is being built in my relatively rural school district, after watching this video I might challenge my students to predict some of the positive and negative changes that we might encounter in the next five years.