[imgbelt img=dewey-Humbolt-seal-150.jpg]
The U.S. Census calls Dewey-Humbolt, Arizona, “metro,” and has since the community in Yavapai County incorporated five years ago. But you can’t tell local residents that. They insist that their community is rural and are shaping a local plan to enforce rurality.
What’s that? “Town Manager William Emerson said that to some, rural means being able to raise crops and ranch, while others view it as having the opportunity to ride horses on open trails.” Still others, Doug Cook writes for the Prescott Daily Courier, enjoy the relative isolation here.
The town council is now polling residents on what they like best about the community, the first step in a general plan.
The U.S. Census designates communities as non-metro (rural) based on population. But Dewey-Humbolt councilman Terry Nolan contends “It’s a state of mind.” He says that people drawn to the area “didn’t want to be governed by too many restrictions…It’s a lifestyle.”
Sounds like restricting restrictions may be in store for Dewey-Humbolt.