Many rural Great Plains communities have lost population throughout much of the 20th Century. To reverse the population decline, several communities in Kansas have introduced incentive programs to attract new residents. One of these incentives is to give away free residential land to people who will build homes in their community. This study evaluates the degree to which these incentive programs have been successful by focusing on the cities of Minneapolis , Marquette , and communities in Ellsworth County in Kansas , all of which have introduced such programs and have attracted new residents. Ellsworth County alone has seen twenty families move into the communities in the past three years. Minneapolis and Marquette have also experienced population growth. The success of the incentive plans hinges on location and advertising. Minneapolis , Marquette , and Ellsworth County are all within short driving distances of larger communities such as Salina , Hutchinson , and Wichita . Their programs have also received much media coverage from local, regional, national, and international news sources. This free advertising has helped to attract both in state and out of state residents to these communities. The free home lots and other incentives are spurring new rural development in areas where population decline was prevalent in the past.