Once a City Dweller, Always a City Dweller?
Just how strong is the long-term allure of the city to young people today? Sure, cities don’t have the great public schools and the super-safe streets of the suburbs and […]
In the South, Politics and Tourism Don’t Mix
The Civil War is big business in Virginia, which saw more than its share of big battles during the conflict. Tourists have their pick of numerous bloody grounds around Richmond, […]
Landlines Turned Lifelines
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the growing hardships of people living a rural life. They tend to have less access to healthcare and resources, and the problem is […]
If You Build It: A Story of Transformation Through Education
“If You Build It,” a new film directed by Patrick Creadon, explores what happens when teachers urge students to use the creativity that each of them possess, but which public […]
Better Business, Better Food…Better Community?
At a grand opening for a new retail market operated by a farm family, celebrants posed for a group photo on the sidewalk and cheered as the farmer remarked on […]
Cause of Death: Rural Life?
Every once in a while I read that the federal government has come up with some new definitions for “rural,” and “urban.” Along with these attempts at statistical exactness come […]
Despite Changing Dollar Store Demographic, NIMBY Attitude Persists
Last winter I wrote about a possible trend in which dollar stores were moving into older downtowns, filling vacant spaces abandoned decades ago when stores left for the interstate exits […]
Can a Community Fair Save a Dying Town?
Last weekend there were two ribbon cuttings here in Louisa County. One was for an expansion of the food pantry and the other was to celebrate the relocation of a 1770s-era […]
Homeowner Associations Have Draconian Rules. Why?
I’ve always been somewhat puzzled as to why people choose to buy houses in neighborhoods with homeowner associations (HOAs). They always seem to have such draconian regulations in their covenants. […]
From Motel to “Growtel”
A young man trying to build the urban farm economy in West Sacramento, Calif., has a novel idea. He saw an avenue lined with run-down old motels and asked, why […]
Could Kit Homes Make a Comeback?
It's interesting to look at housing trends from the past to try to find ideas on how to deal with the housing problems of the present. Rose Thornton recently came […]
Marketing the Farmers’ Market
After making only our second visit to the farmers' market in our county this summer, my wife and I got into a spirited discussion about why anyone should bother to […]