What started as a simple email group turned into a storytelling forum.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Community, Top StoryKarla TheilenMay 24, 2022neighborhood storyteller, Community, community site, Iowa

Strong Towns Need Strong Downtowns

A crucial part of making your city or town stronger lies in revitalizing your downtown. Here’s how one Local Conversation organizer is doing that work in her place.

#StrongCitizens, Community, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonMay 18, 2022advocacy, main street, Traditional Main Street, Small Towns, small towns, Louisiana, community, Community, local economy, downtown

Weaving Together Community, One Maypole at a Time

A recent wedding in Clutier, Iowa, shows the power of a community that's committed to supporting each other and maintaining their historic assets.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Community, Top StoryKarla TheilenMay 17, 2022neighborhood storyteller, Community, community site, Historic Preservation, historic preservation, Iowa

Want To Make Your Town Stronger? Look for the Amateurs.

We live in a culture that exalts the people who say, “I know.” But sometimes what our places need are people willing to say, “I don’t know,” and, “What do you think?” and, “Let’s figure that out together.”

Community, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonMay 4, 2022community, Community, local conversations, localism, community building

Remembering All the Things I’m Supposed to Worry About

Our Neighborhood Storyteller recently received a call about her aging father, who, with his driving privileges revoked, has had to resort to walking on unsafe roads…

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Community, Walkability, Top StoryKarla TheilenMay 3, 2022neighborhood storyteller, Brainerd MN, walkability, aging, #PedestrianUnfriendly, Community

Herriges Rezoned: The Neighbor's Dilemma

NIMBYs are responding to a set of very rational incentives. That presents a challenge for those of us who hope to alter the course of the Suburban Experiment.

Neighborhoods, Engagement, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 20, 2022suburbs, community engagement, community, Community, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, NIMBY

Can We Please Stop Fighting About Gardens

In this town where so many people have front-lawn gardens, why is anyone still arguing that they shouldn’t be allowed?

Local Food, Sheppard, Top StorySeairra SheppardMarch 15, 2022gardening, Gardening, food deserts, local food, community, Community, city council, Illinois, Small Towns, small towns

Sometimes the Ending Isn't the Part That Matters

Building a Strong Town is not a tidy project with a clear conclusion. It's an ongoing practice made up of thousands of small actions—such as this Valentine’s Day tradition.

Community, Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Top StoryKarla TheilenFebruary 22, 2022alaska, neighborhood storyteller, community, Community, arts

Native American New Urbanism: How America's Poorest County Created a Vision for the Future of Cities

This nonprofit has created a template for what a 21st-century, regenerative community could look like; one that asks us what we really want for our future—and means it.

Wildfires and Ice Storms and Pandemics…Oh My!

Co-housing not only saves money for these two families—and enabled them to buy a home, in the first place—it’s also allowed them to better weather hard times.

Community, Housing, Pattison, Updates, Top StoryJohn PattisonFebruary 16, 2022Homeownership, homeowners, co-housing, housing, Housing, housing cost, housing affordability, community building, community, Community

Sharing the Love in Downtown Missoula

Valentine’s Day never inspired our Neighborhood Storyteller…until she was recruited one year to write poems for total strangers in her community.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Community, Top StoryKarla TheilenFebruary 15, 2022neighborhood storyteller, montana, community, Community, arts

A New Vision for Economic Ecosystems: Interview with Dave Kresta (Part 2)

What are some of the practical ways that faith communities can contribute to healthy economic ecosystems?

Community, Economic Development, Faith, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonFebruary 9, 2022Faith Featured, faith communities, economic development, Economic Development, community, Community

We Are Not Just Economic Creatures: Dave Kresta’s Vision of Economic Development

How do we build vibrant local economies that are good for the people who actually live in a neighborhood?

Community, Economic Development, Faith, Pattison, Top StoryJohn PattisonFebruary 2, 2022Faith Featured, faith communities, economic development, Economic Development, community, Community

Little Worlds

What do fractals have to do with building strong towns? A lot more than you might assume.

Community, Pattison, Taking Action, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 26, 2022small bets, strong towns approach, taking action, local conversations, community, Community

Start With What You Know. Build on What You Have.

This simple, fun workshop will help your community discover just how many assets it has to work with.

Community, Pattison, Taking Action, Top StoryJohn PattisonJanuary 19, 2022community, Community, community building, bottom-up, how to, taking action

A Guy for Everything

Aging in place means being able to forge relationships with the people in your community—people who can support you when you need it the most.

Neighborhood Storyteller, Theilen, Top StoryKarla TheilenJanuary 18, 2022neighborhood storyteller, aging in place, aging, family, Minnesota, Brainerd MN, Community, coffee shops

Cultivating Community Beyond Church Walls in Indianapolis

This congregation launched a non-profit organization to help its neighbors—not as an act of benevolence for them, but in solidarity with them.

The Typewriter Mailbox: Small Ways to Bring Joy to a Neighborhood

This house came with a unique instruction: “Change the mailbox message every week, or people will get upset.”

Community, Neighborhoods, Top StoryKarla TheilenDecember 10, 2021neighborliness, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, community, Community, montana

An Ode to Pets in Windows

The pets of this neighborhood brought their humans closer together.

Community, Neighborhoods, Top StorySara FalligantDecember 9, 2021pets, neighborliness, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, community, Community

Love Letters to Your Neighborhood: 5 (Perfectly Legal) Guerilla Art Projects for the Whole Family

These temporary artwork instillations (that anyone can create) are a great way to connect with your neighbors, and help them connect with your community, in turn.

Neighborhoods, Public Art, Top StoryMary Elizabeth PhillipsDecember 8, 2021arts, neighborliness, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, community, Community, Texas

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