THE RURBAN FRINGE

If It Works in Sangudo, Why Not In Your Community?

The following is a guest post by Dan Ohler, coach, colleague, and co-operative co-founder … read on to find out more how he and other community members revitalized their small rural community though collaborative action.
Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC) is a unique investment co-op working to revitalize the economic viability of the small rural community of Sangudo, [...]

A Recipe for CED

While getting groceries the other day, I patiently waited while other shoppers lined up their purchases by the till.  More often than not, it seemed to be a mish-mash of items (hot dog buns, cottage cheese, pepper, and toothpaste, as one example) which led me to think … this is what communities do.
That is, many communities like to [...]

Do Highway Bypasses Bring Benefits?

My community has gone through several agonizing months of presentations, consultations and the like in order to determine the best possible scenario for a proposed major highway realignment.  I won’t lie, it’s been heated at times, with residents arguing for - and against – the proposals.
But do highway bypasses really create unimaginable damage to communities?  Or are there [...]

Is Your Community Business-Friendly?

Over the past eighteen months, I’ve been assisting two communities within our region implement a Business Vitality Initiative (BVI).  In a nutshell, the BVI measures how attractive your community is to small businesses. 
Developed by the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL), the BVI engages key stakeholders in identifying new business and economic opportunities and encourages communities [...]

Demolition Before Renewal

Like a gardener pruning his plants, sometimes you need to tear something down in order to make it better.
Not the whole thing, mind you, just the rotten parts. 
The boarded-up shopfronts, weedy yards, broken windows and sagging rooftops that blight a community’s landscape.
It’s an urban trend that’s finally trickling down to smaller cities and towns; poorly maintained buildings – [...]

keep looking »