A person from Alva, Oklahoma, (population 4,000) posted on the Alva Rants and Raves Facebook group, “I think Alva needs a dog park!” Right away the negativity piled on. I am not kidding, it was things like, “I took my dog to a dog park, and he got sick!” and “I’m an expert on dogs,…
Why do small towns struggle to get things done? Why is that water line still not fixed? What’s holding up the downtown streetscape project? Why didn’t that planned thing ever happen? Questions like these often get lumped under the label of “rural capacity” or lack of capacity. Plenty of outside organizations have been talking a…
My co-founder Deb Brown and I are streamlining our work this year, so this feels like a good time to share how you can work with us at SaveYour.Town. Start by exploring what’s possible in your community. Deb and I have been doing this work together for 10 years now. We’ve learned what works and…
What if funders and all of us really stopped waiting for perfect information and started acting now? In the past few weeks, I’ve seen the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma take immediate action twice and change what people thought was possible. Go ahead with your study, but act now First, at the Oklahoma State University…
Networks grow at the speed of trust. Josiah Hannah from Coalfield Development shared a good idea from their monthly staff meetings. They included meals, which made the whole thing more personal and relaxed. But then they realized they could expand this approach. They started inviting community partners to join some of their gatherings. The shared…
Today, you get a sneak preview of my upcoming book on the Idea Friendly Method. I’ve heard a lot from people all over struggling to create collaborations, and this story provides some practical insights in making collaboration last. In the late 1990s, Curtis Wynn stepped into the role of CEO at Roanoke Electric Cooperative in…
Linda is a economic development board member from a town of 5,000 people. Inspired by our stories, she and the board members want to create a Tiny Business Village, like the one above. They’ve been sharing their vision for the village project with the city council because they need permission to spend over a certain…
In 2015, I decided to ask readers of SmallBizSurvival.com to share what topics they most wanted to learn more about. That grew into the Survey of Rural Challenges, collecting input from rural people all over about their challenges and assets. Looking through all 2200 responses, there are some surprises and some “yeah, we knew that”…
I bet your town has a history book somewhere. When was the last time young people got to see it? At the recent Rural Renewal Symposium, two speakers brought up stories of resilience from the past. Dr. Taylor shared three things that helped the people of Niobrara to be resilient: Those history books are mostly…
The best antidote to the forces pulling us apart as communities is local action that brings us together. Local action that brings us together can be as simple as painting something together. When I visited Rosthern, Saskatchewan, I was struck by these colorful murals filled with circles. I saw several mounted to different downtown buildings….
One common small town parking complaint is business staff taking up customer parking. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this brought up in discussing downtown businesses. Sometimes business owners or business employees park right in front of their business or along the Main Street. They might park out front for any number…
That headline–hope is as infectious as despair–came from Geoffrey Canada, of the Harlem Children’s Zone, speaking at the recent Council of State Governments East Annual Conference. You know I’m always taking notes, looking for ideas we can adapt from big cities and small towns to our own communities. I liked that statement about hope so…
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