Small Towns

Paving the way to Talent’s Long-Term Recovery   

June 4, 2022

Learn more about the CITY OF TALENT URBAN RENEWAL WORK PLAN From https://www.talenturbanrenewal.com/workplan Why is Talent considering an Urban Renewal plan? Talent lost 1/3 of our housing in the Almeda fire, including much of our more affordable housing. We lost 60% of our businesses.  Firefighters were needed to respond to…

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Invitation to sponsor the Community Website Partnership

November 3, 2021

Greetings! Today you and your business are invited to partner with the Community Website Partnership to connect rural Oregonians and strengthen rural communities through technology.  Our nonprofit organization helps rural communities to be informed and resilient as recently featured in the Southern Oregon Business Journal: https://southernoregonbusiness.com/community-website-partnership-informing-inspiring-and-pro moting-resilience-in-rural-oregon/.  By embracing diversity…

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Arrggghhh! The stores in my town close too early!

January 1, 2020

By Becky McCray and Deb Brown. https://saveyour.town/ I got a great email from Dane in response to my last newsletter.  He said: Thanks for suggesting that businesses stay open an extra hour.You might also tell them to not be closed two or even three days a week.  A lot of businesses…

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We Used to Just Call These “Houses”

November 1, 2019

By Daniel Herriges Senior Editor for Strong Towns We have a way in the modern world of rediscovering things that humans have always done but branding them as something trendy and a little alien. So it goes with the explosion of interest in “tiny houses” as an answer to what…

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Sharks kill off good ideas

October 1, 2019

By Deb Brown One of the communities I was in for an Embedded Community Experience sent me some good news. City and community leaders want to take a “Shark Tank” approach in trying to fill vacant storefronts. At first this looks like a great idea! They have a building owner willing to put…

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Everything you think you know about gentrification is wrong

August 31, 2019

By Joe Cortright  Facts are stubborn things: And they don’t support the folk wisdom equating gentrification with displacement. There’s a palpable and growing amount of cognitive dissonance between the accepted conventional wisdom about the intrinsically evil nature of gentrification, and a body of careful detailed research that shows that its…

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Refuge and Prospect: The Front Porch

August 31, 2019

Yesterday and today, we are celebrating the past, present and future of the surprisingly powerful front porch.  by Beth Ann Fennelly My approaching birthday has me taking stock, as approaching birthdays do. This year isn’t a milestone — I’m merely being ushered into my (write it!) late 40s. But I’m…

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The small towns that survive will be the ones that are open to new ideas

November 1, 2018

BY: BECKY MCCRAY In a world driven by frenetic change, which small towns are going to thrive? We know rural people play a key role in our society, so some small towns will have a future. Some small towns are innovative and progressive. Other small towns are stuck in the…

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