Limited to residents of small towns, villages and the rural open country, the study assessed the implications of the rural turnaround in the southern Ohio counties of Athens, Gallia, Jackson, Meigs, and Vinton. All five counties experienced outmigration in the 1950s, and all but Athens County lost population through outmigration in the 1960s. In the turnaround period of 1970 to 1975, all counties but Athens experienced net inmigration. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,134 recent migrants to the area. A follow-up postcard was sent to non-respondents. Phone calls were then made to a sample of non-respondents. Data were obtained from 222 returned questionnaires and 99 migrants who were called. Questionnaires were also mailed to 50 community leaders from each county, except Athens; 191 questionnaires were completed. Among the findings were that 66.2% of the migrants saw their current residence as substantially better as a place to raise children than their previous one and about 40% saw housing, education and solid waste pick-up as worse; about 37% of the leaders felt that the migrants were responsible for the substantial rise in property values; over 72% of the leaders saw a substantial increase in the demand for water and sewage services; 31% of the leaders noted a substantial increase and 35% indicated a slight increase in business activity; and 7% of the leaders said the new residents had no effect on the community, 14% saw little effect, and nearly half did not feel strongly enough to comment at all. (NQ)