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How to fill empty buildings: real world examples Deb Brown shared with Gowrie, Iowa

By Deb Brown

I attended the Chamber Dinner in Gowrie, Iowa and talked about small town ideas they could use. It was my pleasure to spend a couple of days there. This article talks about small town ideas for the community and by the community. Got empty buildings? Every small town has empty buildings and empty lots. Gowrie […]

July 25, 2023 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: beautification, Deb Brown, empty buildings, placemaking, small towns

Chain link is everywhere in downtowns. Here’s how to dress it up.

By Becky McCray

Chain link fence made into a mural of a stream

  You’ve seen it before: a chain link fence right in the middle of a downtown. Usually there’s barbed wire at the top. Let’s face it, barbed wire is not the friendliest look for a downtown. We can do better. Why chain link in the first place? When a business ends up with an empty lot […]

June 30, 2019 Filed Under: community, rural, youth Tagged With: aesthetics, art, beautification, business district, chain link, clean up, downtown, high street, murals, youth

Ideas to fill empty display windows

By Becky McCray

Every small town has some empty windows downtown. Some are empty buildings, some are buildings being used for storage, and some are service businesses that just don’t have a lot to put in their windows. Here are three ideas I saw on my trip through Cowlitz County, Washington. Make a mini-museum. Work with the local […]

April 2, 2019 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural Tagged With: arts, beautification, empty buildings, empty windows, historic, history, museums, service businesses, window decorations, window ideas

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