Tag: Quality of Place
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Planners as Case Workers for Communities
A Guest Post by Calah Young, AICP, Terrell Ellis & Associates: As a practicing planner and consultant in West Virginia I often find myself playing the role of social worker to communities in trouble. According to Wikipedia the main tasks of social workers are “casework (linking clients with agencies and programs that will meet their…
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Elkins: A Creative Mountain Community
After spending a couple of days in Elkins, it is easy to grasp the creative potential of one of West Virginia’s larger small towns. With its Vision 2010 plan, it has developed an impressive roadmap for the future. Sitting in the heart of West Virginia’s mountain highlands, natural beauty is a given. License plates from…
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Rural Broadband Education Workshops
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct four educational workshops focused on rural broadband during 2008. The workshops will provide an opportunity for communities and organizations in rural America seeking to bring the benefits of broadband to their communities to learn about the resources, programs, and policies of…
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Economic Gardening
Way back in 1987, the City of Littleton, Colorado pioneered an entrepreneurial alternative to the traditional economic development practice of recruiting industries. This demonstration program, developed in conjunction with the Center for the New West, was called “economic gardening.” The belief was that “economic gardening” was a better approach for Littleton (and perhaps many other…
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Vote for Berkeley Springs – #1 Small Town Art Destination
From our friend Jeanne Mozier, artistic promoter extraordinaire: Dear Folks, It’s that time of year again…an appeal to ONCE AGAIN VOTE FOR BERKELEY SPRINGS as the #1 art destination in America among small cities and towns. Last year we dropped to #12. It was embarrassing — or maybe we should feel proud that other towns…
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MLK Day Thoughts: How Do We Overcome?
It sometimes seems odd to greet someone with a “Happy Martin Luther King Day” greeting, doesn’t it? The seriousness of the topic of equality and justice, and the recency of Dr. King’s life and death (Were they really hosing kids in Alabama and segregating people all over this country when I was in elementary school?…
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State of the Creative State
Charleston was abuzz this week as legislators opened their 2008 session and Governor Manchin delivered his State of the State address. As with most political speeches, there were things to be excited about and things that left you wishing for more. Here are a few things we’re excited about from a Creative Communities/New Economy perspective:…
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Things are Looking Up in Upshur County
Buckhannon just seems like one of those All-American towns. One of the rare West Virginia towns built on a fairly large swath of flat land in Central WV, Buckhannon is home to the famous Strawberry Festival and West Virginia Wesleyan College. Like most small towns, the downtown started to empty and deteriorate years ago. But…
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What are Other Regions Doing?
There is no doubt that a shift in economic development strategy from “smokestack chasing” to “nurturing an entrepreneurial garden” is occurring around the country. While we don’t necessarily like the term “smokestack chasing” because it’s misleading as to what the hard-working folks in economic development offices do (who isn’t excited about Hino Motors and other…
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Creative Resolutions for 2008
Happy New Year! We thought it would be interesting to throw out some recommended resolutions to get us started on the right creative foot in 2008. In addition to the ones below, the createwv.com site has a list of “Big Ideas” your community might want to use as inspiration (see the Big Ideas link on…