Community Heart & Soul Stories
Why Small Towns are Buzzing About Rural Creative Placemaking
Over 300 people from 38 states gathered in Iowa last month under the banner of the first Next Generation Rural Creative Placemaking Summit. What generated all that excitement? And what…
-
6 Innovative Small Business Models in Small Towns
You don’t have to settle for a normal business. Rural businesses are exploring new shapes, new locations and new ways of doing business. Here are six innovative ways people are…
Getting a Fresh Take by Involving Youth in Planning
Amy Ma and Peter Kivimaki are Edina, Minnesota’s student planning commissioners. Student commissioners serve one-year terms and can serve up to two terms. They take part in all the commission’s…
How One Town Set Out to Write a Plan that People Would Read
Not unlike most town plans, the Essex, Vermont, Town Plan was 280 pages long, mostly text with an occasional chart or graph. Not exactly a page turner. When it came…
Tired of Being Stuck? New Leaders Can Help
One of the greatest barriers to change in small cities and towns is that we’re stuck. Town staff don’t always have the time or resources to implement plans or take…
-
Seven Ways to Increase Community Power in Local Decision-Making
CommunityMatters®, a partnership of seven national organizations including Orton, share the belief that people have the power to solve their community’s problems and direct future growth and change. As leaders…
3 Ways Local Philanthropy Made a Difference in Small Towns
When most of us think of philanthropy, we think big—big dollars, big foundations, big projects. But philanthropy also happens in small, but impactful ways. Residents come together to donate to…