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Has your community made negativity a habit?

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

Living in a small town, we are often inclined to see change in our community as a threat to ourselves and our way of life. When we feel threatened by change, uncertainty rears its ugly head and our negativity often takes over. We say things like “What’s wrong with the way we’ve always done it?” […]

July 6, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: community coach, community development, guest post, habits, negativity, Paula Jensen, rural, small towns

Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022

By Becky McCray

Who knows what trends will affect small and rural communities in 2022 and beyond? Not many trends pieces cover rural places. These trends are specifically about rural and small towns. I’ve been following rural trends and writing about them since 2009. My trends reports have been commissioned or quoted by Main Street America, Emergent Research, the […]

January 3, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, entrepreneurship, POV, rural, trends Tagged With: Becky McCray, Climate, community development, future, nature, neighboring, news, remote work, rural, rural migration, rural sourcing, rural trends, small towns, trends, zoom towns

Survey of Rural Challenges 2021 results, analysis of themes from 2015 through today

By Becky McCray

Survey of Rural Challenges 2021

Rural communities were not immune to the chaos of 2020, but remained more concerned with ongoing challenges. To find out what rural people felt were their biggest challenges, SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com surveyed over 280 rural people in the fourth quarter of 2020. The results make up this fourth edition of the Survey of Rural Challenges. Challenges […]

June 7, 2021 Filed Under: announcement, community, economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, trends Tagged With: economic development, research, rural trends, small towns, survey, Survey of Rural Challenges

How to get more parking downtown without adding any spaces

By Becky McCray

There’s not enough parking downtown! Doesn’t every city have that problem? You’re about to learn a new way to get more parking for your Main Street without having to pave, stripe or get a permit. It doesn’t work in every town, but it very well might work in yours. Finding hidden parking There is only […]

March 7, 2020 Filed Under: customer service, economic development, entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: Climate, creative placemaking, downtown, economic development, empty land, empty lots, entrepreneurship, parking, parks, placemaking, rural, small towns, walkability

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