• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Optimism for Small Towns at National Planning Conference

By Becky McCray

STaR

Small Town and Rural Planners gather for Division Meeting. Photo by STaR Chair Chad Nabity. Used by Permission.

Guest post by John C. Shepard, AICP, Laramie County, Cheyenne, Wyoming

Small town and rural planning is not city planning writ small.  Yet we are also part of the same global economy as our urban cousins, facing the same economic and demographic trends.  Over 5,000 urban and regional planners traveled to Chicago last week from all over the US and overseas for the American Planning Association (APA) annual National Planning Conference.  The Conference featured topics from the Aging of America to Zombie Subdivisions, a little something for everyone.

I felt a renewed optimism at this year’s conference.  Outgoing APA President Mitchell Silver of Raleigh, North Carolina, has been a tireless advocate questioning the way we’ve been building (and maintaining) cities of all sizes.  He’s brought in people like “reformed engineer” Chuck Marohn from the Strong Towns organization in rural Brainerd, Minnesota, to talk about why it’s bad business to apply metropolitan highway standards to small town main streets.  This year, Silver sponsored an Emerging Issues Task Force, which looked at global trends impacting urbanization, infrastructure and demographics affecting all of us in large cities or small towns.

It is easy at a large meeting like this to look to the common denominator.  Most people live in suburbs and many of the presentations spoke to the mean.  Yet I am still surprised how often small town advocates and inner-city activists find issues of common cause in employment, housing, and aging demographics.  Infrastructure in many urban areas was built at the same time as our prairie railroad towns, and is falling apart at the same alarming rate.  A presentation about wireless service in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, brought up the same issues with broadband access and adoption as my presentation about the Blandin Foundation’s work in rural Minnesota.

Small town development issues did take center stage at several sessions sponsored by the Small Town and Rural (STaR) Division of APA.  About 100 in attendance belong to STaR, in addition to their state or regional chapter, mostly planning commissioners, elected officials, and staff in one-person rural offices.  STaR sponsored one session, for example, on “Rural Sustainability” projects in Minnesota, Missouri and Mississippi.  Sustainability isn’t a conspiracy;  it’s the simple small town value of not eating your seed corn.  We shouldn’t sacrifice tomorrow for short-term solutions today.

“Smart Growth in Small towns” attracted well over 100 people to learn about a new comprehensive plan for the resort community of Ketchum, Idaho, population 2,689.  Highlight: in a small town, you can get out and talk to people one-on-one about what they want their community to be, something that’s impractical in a big city.  We may not have economies of scale, but it is usually easier to get things done.

Small town planning is a lot like small business planning.  You need to understand your market—what kind of place do people want to live in?  You need to understand your product (and production capacity)—do you have vacant “zombie subdivisions” platted years ago without infrastructure for modern development?  You need to understand your organization—can you move your town from good to great?  Plan your work.  Work your plan.

John C. Shepard, AICP, is Senior Planner with Laramie County, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Shepard has county and regional development experience across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states. He blogs on life, liberty and the pursuit of Americana at www.JCShepard.com.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Move Your Money and Bank Local - March 22, 2023
  • Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign - March 13, 2023
  • How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores - February 19, 2023
  • Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022
  • Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value - December 17, 2022
  • Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp - December 12, 2022
  • Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome - December 2, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story - December 1, 2022

May 1, 2013 Filed Under: economic development, rural

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in