Is Rural America Growing Again? Recent Data Suggests Yes
Despite unprecedented Covid-19-related death rates, rural America shows population growth after a decade of decline.
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Articles & News
How Pittsburgh found a secret climate weapon in ‘the thrilling world of municipal budgeting’
Even cash-strapped cities have money for climate action. They just need to spend it better.
Finding ‘Higher Ground’: Locally-led Movement Works Toward a Just Housing Recovery in Eastern Kentucky
The urgent need for housing assistance in flood stricken Appalachian communities reveals the severe limitations of the nation’s response and support systems. Community groups are stepping up to help.
Discovering ‘Cultural Debris’: Making a Big World Small by Paying Attention to Permanent Things
Sharing what we experience when we travel can open communities to themselves and others.
Running Fiber-Optic Cable to Rural Communities Is Part of Maine’s Ambitious Broadband Plan
Maine’s governor has pledged that everyone in the state who wants high-speed internet will be able to get it by the end of 2024. In just one small, Down East town, that means installing 60 miles of fiber-optic cable.
What Midwest Industrial Communities can Teach about Managing Economic Change
With a great convergence on both sides of the Atlantic around the urgent need to diminish geographic economic disparities and opportunity gaps — particularly those between thriving global city regions and struggling communities in industrial heartlands – there are growing efforts to learn from each other.
‘Uniting Americans through Service: How California is Leading’
California's Chief Service Officer discusses the California Volunteers' initiatives -- the impact CalVols is having in the state, and how it serves as a model nationwide at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event at the University of Redlands.
Inside Our Towns: John Kropf
John Kropf discusses his latest book, 'Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company', which explores Sandusky, Ohio's innovative industrial heritage and his family's role in it.
Reviving America, One College Town at a Time
How symbiotic relationships between colleges and their communities have reaped rewards in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Waterville, Maine.
‘America is the most interesting place in the world at this moment’
Deb and Jim Fallows discuss the Our Towns journey with Brett Hollenbeck on 'The Impact Code' podcast.
3 Reasons Local Climate Activism is More Powerful than People Realize
Research and history suggest that local action is more powerful than many people believe.
‘How America’s Towns are Writing the Future of the Country’
Residents, coaches, reporters discuss local-level community revitalization initiative at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event.
Cleveland Pilot Project Provides Rooftop Solar for Low-Income Residents
Data from the project will document savings and could help get more funding for solar energy in neighborhoods that have historically been left behind.
Trees Bring Hope, Healing, and a Look to the Future for Western Kentucky Tornado Victims
A tree grower joins forces with a local organization to replant some of the trees lost in Kentucky during tornadoes of late 2021.
That empty space next to highways? Put solar panels on it.
Roadside solar fields across the country could power up to 12 million electric vehicles.
A Year in Renew, A Year-in-Review: The Stories from 2022 of American Renewal
The Our Towns team looks back at the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide.