MORE AMERICANS DISCOVERING SMALL TOWN LIFE

USA TODAY, YORKVILLE, IL. - Developments here advertise $170,000 town homes, $250,000 houses — much cheaper than comparable properties in Chicago and closer-in suburbs. Kendall County, which includes a small part of Joliet, added 42,258 people from 2000 to 2007, the Census Bureau says. The 77.5% increase put the population at 96,818 and edged out Flagler County, Fla., as the fastest-growing county with 10,000 or more people.

Yorkville and other Kendall County communities are emblematic of an appealing lifestyle, but they also exemplify the challenges that accompany an influx of newcomers. There are no hospitals in the county. There's no public transportation. Most roads have just two lanes. In Yorkville, the county seat, there's one bridge over the Fox River, which bisects the city. Everyone complains about the traffic.

There's also a feeling among some residents that as the rural atmosphere of their communities changes, they are losing what they love most about their hometowns. . .

County government also is trying to keep up with the demands of a growing population. The county raised sales taxes twice to help pay for improvements to transportation and public safety and residents twice approved property-tax referendums to protect open spaces. The county jail's capacity was 14 in 1992 and is now about 200, says John Church, chairman of the Kendall County Board. The courthouse, which opened in 1997, is undergoing a $30 million expansion.

A few years ago, county residents debated how they could stop growth, Church says. "Now it's, 'How do we deal with it?' " Dealing with it is "a very delicate process," says Brian LeClercq, village president of Oswego, which grew from about 13,000 people in 2000 to 28,000 now. "We need to make it happen on our terms."