According to officials in communities in the northeast region of Butler County, residents enjoy the rural setting, the family focused atmosphere and the relative privacy of the sprawling landscape.

And officials want to keep it that way.

Regis Thoma, a fourth-year supervisor in Oakland Township, said the township's plan is simply to maintain what its residents enjoy.

"We have some development here, but I don't look for anything major in the near future," Thoma said.

"We're a long time away from the development that goes on in southern Butler County because I think most of the people here enjoy it being a rural township."

Bryan McClaine, chairman of the supervisors in Venango Township, echoed that sentiment.

"The key to Venango Township is preservation. It is an agricultural and residential area with a lot of green space in between, and that's what attracts people here," McClaine said.

"Sure, as a supervisor, you'd like to see a lot of economic development and a huge tax base, but that's not what our residents want."

McClaine said the township gets about 10 to 14 new residents per year, based on new sewage permits, so growth is steady.

"It's a getaway-type area. We have our open land and game preserves. People want to enjoy the land, not sit in traffic waiting to get somewhere," McClaine said.

The township has one active game preserve and a second one has been approved by the supervisors, he said.

Zachary Pyle, a Penn State student serving his first elected term as mayor of Fairview, balances preserving tradition with progressive ideas.

"I think it was in the past three or four years we got all of our alleys and side roads repaved and in good shape," Pyle said.

"We finally got street signs in the past year, as well. We only have eight or 10 main roads here, and none of them were marked."

Pyle, a senior majoring in landscape architecture, will graduate in May.

"Since I took over the mayor position, I've been trying to implement some of the things I've learned at school, beautifying the borough," he said.

"I'd like to see some more changes, as well, such as the installation of sidewalks — we don't really have any in the borough — and maybe some other aesthetic things, like street trees."

To that end, the borough also recently enacted an ordinance penalizing residents for having excessive trash or junk on their properties.

Despite the mayor and borough council's thinking, they realize their borough, which is less than one square mile in size and home to about 200 people, must be selective in its efforts.

"We don't have unlimited funds, but we're in a good financial situation. We have to plan smart around what people in town see as most important," Pyle said.

"The past five years, we have had a community day and fireworks, usually at the end of summer. It brings in guests from around the region, and is made possible by donations from the community."

George Brothers, who has spent 30 years on the Chicora Borough Council and serves as its president, embraces progress that betters the community. However, there is a shrinking budget to facilitate it.

"Basically, this is a nice, quiet place to live. Within the last 10 years we have upgraded the municipal water system and installed sewage in the town, as well as brought most of our roads up to where we'd like them to be," Brothers said.

"But, we are like every other small town around. We are in an area that is in slow economic decline.

"As time goes on, our tax base and population drop off. As I understand it, we have lost about 40 people since the 2000 census."

Those losses make it difficult to fund necessary improvement projects, Brothers said, such as state-mandated water runoff management and pollutant reduction in local waters.And the economic hurt is not limited to the public sector."Times have changed, and these small businesses can't compete with the Lowe's and Home Depots. E.F. Hayes and Sons, they were a staple of our community, in business since the 1870s. They closed in December," he said of the hardware store.Randy Smith, an 18-year veteran on the Washington Township board of supervisors, said the township has tailored development to fit its atmosphere."It's a small community and you don't have many neighbors. We have more than 4,000 acres of game lands in the township. That keeps us rural, but there's obviously no tax base for that," Smith said."That's the way we like it, no problems, and that's how we strive to keep it."The township, estimated at 1,300 people in the 2000 census, has welcomed two new housing developments in the past 10 years, and Smith said developers catered to residents' desires."They knew people want rural when they came out here, so the properties are between 4 and 15 acres apiece."However, the township is still subject to some of the state-mandated changes affecting other municipalities."We're now mandated to issue municipal code permits in addition to just building permits, sewage enforcement is tougher, and that state-mandated stuff is not funded," Smith said.Floyd Zang, who has spent 26 years as a Donegal Township supervisor and 20 years as the township's roadmaster, said the steady-as-she-goes approach suits his township residents' needs."It's so rural and residential, pretty much out in the country. Except for the cost of everything going up by double or triple in the past 10 years, everything has pretty much stayed the same," Zang said."With the way the economy is, no major development will take place here for quite a while."He said the township experiences steady, small growth, about three or four people a year, into its 1,700-person population.And, so long as the township's 31 miles of roads are clear and people's backyards remain quiet, residents are happy with things as they are."I think we're in pretty good shape with our roads, our buildings and our equipment. We get a lot of compliments on our maintenance," Zang said.