Revitalize, or Die.

06/05/2026

The kids aren’t leaving for the reasons you think they are.

Sure, a certain percentage of graduates will always want to broaden their horizons, get a college degree, or go live in the big city. That is normal and healthy. But plenty of kids typically also want to stay home, and that requires home to do its part. Most hometowns aren’t.
So many hometowns have failed so badly that the only people staying are the ones who are stuck. That is absolutely not good enough. I’m not saying everyone who stays in their hometown is trapped and doesn’t have options, but a town’s success or failure takes place on the margins. When the percentage of graduates who leave increases, towns begin to die.

If even a few more kids choose to stay after graduating, or a few more move back after their time away, that might actually save your town. Not everyone has to stay, but we need to make a compelling case for more to stay and more to return. What most towns need is just to hold their population or grow a little, and as the business world likes to point out, it is easier and cheaper to retain an existing customer than it is to land a new one. Yet when I spend time in towns, so much effort goes toward attracting tourists and outside businesses, but no one is thinking critically about how to keep the kids at home.

Read the rest over on my Substack. Find the link in the comments

06/04/2026

06/03/2026

It’s graduation season. Before we start wringing our hands about brain drain and hoping more kids stick around this time, let’s ask ourselves a different question.

Not what do we want as a community, but what do these kids want? More importantly, what do they need to feel like they are living a rich and meaningful life?

And then ask yourself honestly: Can they get that here?

Look for a full post on Friday

06/01/2026

Most community development training is designed for individuals.

But community change doesn't happen individually.

Why do we keep asking one person to come home and somehow change an entire community?

Revitalization is a social activity; learning should be, too.

So, my friend, Rebecca Undem of Growing Small Towns, and I are exploring a new community learning experience specifically designed for communities of 5,000 people and fewer.

We're imagining a one-day, highly interactive experience in Oakes, North Dakota (pop. 1,800), the headquarters of Growing Small Towns.

And instead of sending individuals, you’d register a team of up to 4 people from your community for $1,200.

You'd learn together.
Challenge assumptions together.
Build relationships with leaders from other small towns.
Leave with a shared 90-day action plan.

Because the goal isn’t to learn cool theories.

The goal is to experience things that make you want to come back to your town and get stuff done.

Before we take this any further, we'd love to know:

Would you attend?
What would make it worth the trip?
Would you want to host one in your region?

Tell us in the comments or send a message.

05/29/2026

What is your town’s best summer event?

05/28/2026

Stop treating beauty like a luxury.

It’s not. It’s infrastructure. The kind that fosters care, pride, and connection while making every other investment work harder.

05/27/2026

The Simplest Economic Development Strategy You’re Ignoring

There is no mystery to why certain streets thrive and others don’t. People are drawn to beautiful places. Not complicated, not controversial, just true.

When a street is irresistible, foot traffic follows. When foot traffic follows, shop owners notice. When shop owners notice, they compete for space on that street. When they compete for space, rents rise, buildings appreciate, and the surrounding neighborhood becomes more desirable. The homeowners nearby benefit. The tax base strengthens. The community grows.

This is not a theory. This is how value is created.

The public sector’s role in this chain is straightforward: invest in a high-quality public realm and enforce your building codes. That’s it. You don’t need another survey telling you that residents prefer to live in beautiful places. They do. Everyone does. Act on that.

Cities that understand this stop treating aesthetics as a luxury and start treating them as infrastructure. Because that’s exactly what they are, the infrastructure that makes every other investment work harder.

Make your streets irresistible. The private sector will do the rest.

05/22/2026

Anything that isn’t done with care can’t be received with care.

You can’t shortcut a town worth loving. If your streets, buildings, and public spaces weren’t built with love and intention, don’t expect your residents to care about them.

National home builders won’t build you a town people can love. National chains won’t either. They’re creating wealth extraction operations, not communities. Places designed to mine money, not foster connection or pride.

Then everyone acts surprised when residents feel apathetic about where they live.

People respond to what you give them. Build ugly, cheap, and extractive and you get apathy in return. Build with care, intention, and beauty and you get residents who care back.

You can’t demand civic pride in a place that was built without any.