Becky’s email newsletter

“Small town thinking” is frequently used to mean an ignorant or limited viewpoint. You might hear it used as, “She moved to the city to get away from the small town thinking.”  It took on this meaning when living in a small town meant being disconnected from the wider world, cut off from news and…

A news story from Garland, Texas, got me thinking about what you can do with a roofless building.  You probably have one in your downtown. Maybe a building burned, or maybe the roof just fell in. These things happen. Now you have an empty space, maybe with walls, or maybe just an open lot. What…

Cities and towns, urban and rural, face a lot of the same challenges. We share the same basic issues in trying to build prosperity: support businesses, maintain infrastructure, provide basic services, improve the quality of life, build a sense of place, support the arts, promote health, and all the other to-do items you can think…

When you find yourself completely painfully overwhelmed with your commitments, you need to say no to some things that you already said yes to. But you probably feel like you can’t back out now. Time to apply the broken leg test.  If you broke your leg tomorrow, could you back out? Of course you could….

Back in the summer time, a small auto repair shop owner in Elliot Lake, Ontario, was posting his “gone fishing” sign and taking off in the middle of the afternoon. His city friend, who vacations there every year, happened to catch him at it and said, “You are so lucky to live here!”  The small…

Too much small business advice is Big City business advice by default. It’s written by and for the people living in one of the top 10 cities. It’s a world of millions of people, easy access to support and resources, high-rise office buildings, cubicles, cabs, and co-working spaces. I don’t do business in that world….

Entrepreneurs can support each other better than any expert or organization can support them. So if you want more entrepreneurs in your town (because they create more prosperity for you), it’s mostly a matter of your existing entrepreneurs and business owners supporting the new ones. “Research shows that once entrepreneurship gets established, it tends to…

Here’s a new way to think of your role in building a better town: Pull down the barriers to entry. Right now, there are barriers keeping people from trying their own business in your town. Some barriers are things that take a lot to change, like zoning regulations, while others would be relatively simple to…

I don’t know all the problems and challenges in your town. I don’t know your assets and best kept secrets. I don’t know who gets in your way or who is right there with you every step. I don’t know if you have issues to address or opportunities to seize in education or health care or…

Dean Abbott interviewed me for his podcast, which is partly about moving out of the city to a more deliberate and meaningful life in smaller places. He asked me how someone can tell if the town they are considering moving to is likely to prosper. One factor immediately lept to mind. Fighting. How much fighting…

I spent last week in Washington, D.C., talking about rural issues and sharing your stories. Before I report on that, I want to mention that we have a lively discussion going on why big boxes are getting smaller, and how consumer behavior is driving that. Join the conversation here OK, on with the policy stuff! On…

Lots of local groups issue “shop local” coupon books. Most are pretty much what you expect: a packet of coupons good for savings at local businesses. But one local business alliance came up with a better idea during one of my conference workshops. The alliance helps local people build a stronger local community. To communicate their purpose to…