THE RURBAN FRINGE

Sowing the Seeds for Downtown Revitalization

While I can’t take any credit for the following post (with the exception of some slight editing), the ideas presented by Rick Hauser on downtown revitalization – or any community engagement efforts, really – were too good not to share … I’m sure you’ll agree.
Sowing the Seeds for Downtown Revitalization
Any farmer or gardener will tell [...]

Give to Your Community This Christmas

With only 12 days left until Christmas, our communities are often inadvertently left off our lists, unless a donation is made to local charities, not-for-profits, or community foundations. 
Shopping locally, though, is a great way to “give back” to your community.
Last year, I posted about how small towns could attract visitors to their communities by creating day-trips … but equally [...]

$1 a Day Keeps the Creditors Away

A rural community in Australia, desperate to encourage new people to move in and revitalize the town, is offering to rent out local farmhouses for $1.
The Hamlet of Trundle, 350 km northwest of Sydney, has a population of 380 people.  Like neighbouring communities, Trundle has struggled for years with drought and is hoping that the cheap [...]

How to Lose Members and Alienate Supporters

While my day job often finds me working with municipalities, community groups and various other agencies, I also belong to, volunteer for, and support a number of groups within my community.  I know what works, how vital volunteers are to the process, and how there are never enough funds to go around. 
Some groups, however, are better than [...]

Saying No Isn’t Nonsense

Much of the conventional wisdom about how to succeed at community-building seems to center around saying yes.  You’ll hear that you’re supposed to market your cause constantly in as many different ways as possible, network with everyone you find, and engage as many people as possible in order to spread your message.  The assumption is [...]

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