Finding the City of Lost Hills
California's agricultural Central Valley—so rich in output, so poor in median income—is the focal point of trends in immigration, in education, in political trends, in sustainability.
Citizen Engagement
28 posts
Sustainability: Suddenly the action is local.
Ten years ago, we were searching for examples of local-level sustainability efforts. Now they are everywhere.
The Enduring Power of Place
Americans like to know where they are from—and like to think about where they might go. These contradictory realities are part of America's past, and of its future opportunities.
Florida Man!
How a regional Florida newspaper informs its citizens and encourages activism.
How Story Maps Drive Progress
At Our Towns, we’ve been following the tools and applications of geospatial information systems (GIS), as they have progressed from promise to delivery. GIS helps in countless ways: for cities…
The ‘Civic Soft Power’ of Public Places
You know it when you feel it: How the public places of a town reveal a sense of its soul.
Local Action with Global Effects: the Saga of the Leaf Blower
We've just lived through 50 years of an invention that transformed neighborhood life in much of America, the gas-powered leaf blower. That era is coming to an end.
Meadville Leaders Turn a Community’s Plan into Action
Community leaders in Meadville, Pennsylvania listened to, and included, residents in planning and policymaking to drive informed change.
‘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.
How Local Governments Can Engage Residents of All Ages
When community members can't, or don't, or won't, go to town halls to attend local government meetings, some local elected officials have found a way to go to their constituents.
Inside Our Towns: Scott and Tiffany Whaley
Feeding, sustaining, and building community in Kershaw, South Carolina through KARE.
Kershaw Invests in Community with New Ideas in Old Spaces
A train depot that’s a museum. A bank branch building that’s become a library. Another former bank that is serving as an early education center. Here is how this South Carolina town is repurposing buildings of the past to build up its future.
How One Small Ohio Town Practices Democracy
Small is big in Mount Blanchard, Ohio. The town approached change in two ways, and Deborah Fallows reports on the impact she and her husband, James, saw during their travels there.
To Both See and Tell the Country: From the Road through North Carolina to South Carolina
Why seeing more of America matters.
An Outsider Works with Insiders: Examples from Akron and Cleveland
Mac Love, who has spent much of his life outside Ohio, uses new technologies to bring community residents and college students together. That collaborative approach is now helping citizens’ voices be heard and is driving meaningful change in their neighborhoods.
A Dining-room Meeting Begins a New Chapter in One Town’s Story
As Isaac and Heidi Tucker saw it, there was no use in waiting for their town to improve itself. Instead, they took action, and are rallying renewal efforts in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania today.