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          NEW OLD IDEAS

          PODCAST

          Inside Our Towns: Josh Fryday, California's Chief Service Officer

          National division might grab headlines, but the story of uniting citizens through service in California is growing.

          COMMUNITIES THAT WORK

          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.

          NEW OLD IDEAS

          Renewing the call for a Marshall Plan for America

          Seven decades ago, a plan to rebuild fragile, wounded countries swept across Western Europe. That idea should serve as a blueprint for American towns and cities and regions left behind today, argues Michael Cooper.

          BIG LITTLE IDEAS

          A California Project, with Nationwide Ambitions

          American history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. Crises keep cropping up--and so do ideas and solutions. Many innovations from the 1930s have new relevance for the post-pandemic 2020s. Here is an example, and the thinking behind it.

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          This is the site of the Our Towns Civic Foundation, dedicated to connecting innovators, reformers, civic-patriots, and dreamers across America. The reports here are based on travels and interviews over the past decade by Deborah and James Fallows. The ongoing accounts will emphasize local voices on how communities are adjusting to the economic, environmental, and technological opportunities and challenges of the era.

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