Editor’s note: Jon Margolis, a retired political reporter for
the Chicago Tribune, is a VTDigger.org columnist. Rural living
isn’t necessarily a country idyll. In fact, for the last few
decades, rural areas, such as most of Vermont, have been tougher
places to live –and to earn a living – than the cities and
suburbs. Now comes word that rural life is not only harder but
shorter. A new study called “Falling behind: Life expectancy in
US counties from 2000 to 2007 in an international context,”
shows life expectancy is actually declining in many rural
counties. As can be seen from its title, the study, whose lead
writer was Sandeep C. Kulkarni of the University of Washington’s
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, was primarily
focused on comparing longevity outcomes between the U.S. and
other advanced countries. It found far more disparities between
affluent and poorer counties in the U.S. than elsewhere. The
disparities were striking. On a county-by-county basis, “life
expectancy in 2007 ranged from 65.