Question of the Week: How Do I Start an Import-Replacement Trend in My Neighborhood?

Your Strong Towns Knowledge Base question of the week, answered here.

Knowledge Base, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 5, 2019Strong Citizenship, neighborhood change, community, local economy

How One Rural Resident Got Neighbors to "Buy In" Towards a Stronger Town

Jeff Eidson—founder of Explore Elkin—shares story behind the idea Explore Elkin and how listeners can successfully create similar groups in their own cities and towns, including how to find and pitch a shared vision to residents, how to motivate residents stuck in a psychology of decline towards their city or town, and how to use the funds generated towards small bets.

More than Music: How Local Music Scenes Make our Cities Stronger

Joanna Jurgens, Head of Business Affairs at Sofar Sounds, shares how you can foster a local music scene in your community, including how to awaken that DIY spirit that’s so essential to kickstarting a local music scene, how to identify low risk strategies for creating a venue, and how to get local elected officials involved in the process.

Is Your City Racing to the Bottom or the Top?

In a “sort-by-price” world, you should be careful getting into a race to the bottom. This applies as much to cities as businesses.

Economic Development, Top StoryJordan ClarkFebruary 21, 2019Verdunity, local economy

How Local Businesses can Become (Economically Resilient) Gathering Places

Strong Towns’s own Kea Wilson discusses what her time as a bookseller at Left Bank Books in St. Louis taught her about making local businesses a third place, including what building a third place actually looks like, how third places are more economically resilient, and how you can make your local business a third place.

Crony Capitalism

If we want to fix crony capitalism, what we really need is to localize capital.

Marohn, Economic Development, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 4, 2018localism, local economy, cronyism, California, tax incentives

The Emptying Out of Rural Kansas: An Interview with Corie Brown

In this podcast episode, Chuck interviews Corie Brown, Zester Media co-founder and a writer on the food system, about the depopulation of rural Kansas, as mechanized agriculture reduces the need for farm labor, and the social toll that it is taking in isolated, shrinking towns.

Podcast, Local Food, Rural, Top StoryStrong TownsAugust 30, 2018Kansas, Small Towns, local economy, local food

Character Counts: How to Create a Sense of Place in Your Community

The less you look like everyone else and the more you look like yourself, the better off you’ll be. This truth should be driving your town’s development. In fact, creating a distinctive sense of place is your competitive advantage.

You Can't Have It All, but You Can Have Most of What Matters

We have chosen a rural life—who pays for our infrastructure? The short answer is: we don't have much of it, but we take care of our own needs. Strong towns require strong citizens: people who learn to take control of their lives and do for themselves things that are doable.

#StrongCitizens, Local Food, Rational Responses, Top StoryKaren TreanorAugust 10, 2018rural, Infrastructure, resilient, local economy

Small Businesses Can Save Your Community

Small businesses are crucial to local economic health. Thriving small businesses create thriving communities, in a virtuous cycle.

Can Recreation Make Your Town Stronger?

An unlikely town has become a hub for cycling and mountain biking — and it’s paying serious dividends for the community.

Bikeability, Byron, Top StoryAubrey ByronJuly 11, 2018local economy, bike trails

Native American Tribes Are Rebuilding Their Local Economies for a Better Quality of Life.

From event venues to wineries to clean energy plants, Native local businesses are blossoming.

Top StoryDebra KrolJuly 10, 2018native american, local economy

The Case for Small Commercial Spaces

When large storefronts sit empty for years, holding out for the perfect big tenant, while small businesses can’t find space to rent, we’ve got a serious problem.

Andrew Price, Zoning, Top StoryAndrew PriceJuly 5, 2018small business, local economy, development

On the Pine Ridge Reservation, Massive Barriers Hinder Growth of a Local Economy

A lack of access to land and equity prevents Native communities from gaining real wealth.

Mark St. PierreApril 3, 2018local economy, race, native american

What the Craft Brewing Boom can Teach Other Local Industries: Part 2

The elements that have made craft breweries successful in American small towns could also spell good news for other industries.

Member Post, Top Story, Local FoodMarty WalshMarch 28, 2018local economy, local food, local business

What the Craft Brewing Boom can Teach Other Local Industries: Part 1

How did beer turn the consolidation ship around and what can we learn from craft brewing's success?

Member Post, Local FoodMarty WalshMarch 27, 2018local food, local economy, local business, page highlight

The Great Gamble

Once the "Rubber Capital of the World," Akron, Ohio is rebuilding its economy to focus on small local businesses rather than risky, large-scale gambles.

Akron, SchweitzerMark SchweitzerMarch 19, 2018local economy, local business

The Surprising Success of the Craft Beer Revolution

In the last 10 years, the number of breweries in America has increased sixfold.

Top StoryRachel QuednauJanuary 30, 2018local business, local economy

The New Localism

Across the country, a movement of local doers is taking hold — one where problem solving happens from the bottom up instead of the top down. That's what Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar at Brookings, argues in his new book.

PodcastRachel QuednauJanuary 25, 2018local economy