The book emphasizes that the things that make your community unique are what makes them valuable, and for large swathes of the American Midwest, some of our most unique features are old buildings. Repurposing an old building for a new use takes creativity, and it's not always the rock-botton-price approach, but 49 times out of …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: almost anything can be rehabbed, especially in Cleveland
The Local Economy Revolution book doesn't talk specifically about online public engagement, but it does emphasize some of the factors that necessitate change in how we do public engagement - and make good online public engagement so critical today: the people we need to get involved aren't all gentleman farmers anymore (they have a lot more …
Continue reading The Online Public Engagement Emporium launches
I love my e-reader, but sometimes you just want a regular paper book - especially if you're hanging by the pool or the beach. And if you really want to look like one of the smart kids, you'll want to get caught on the beach reading The Local Economy Revolution or Why This Work Matters, right? Of course …
Continue reading Deals and more Deals: 20% off print book via Lulu.com
There's a whole chapter in the book that talks about how the basic characteristics of small businesses today means that local governments have no choice but to completely rework how they interact with them. I have the great priviledge of teaching a webinar for Lorman Education Services next month on one of my favorite topics. …
Continue reading Super special offer: 50% Discount on Local Government and Small Business webinar
I'm often assumed to be totally opposed to economic development incentives. I'm not. I just want the benefit to the broader community to be worth what we're spending. And a lot of times we don't know, or we don't ask, or we don't want to know.... or we don't ask because we don't want to …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: incentives that actually have a demonstrated good impact
This is a random excerpt from The Local Economy Revolution. Yes, it was really randomly selected. But the book is not random. Want to learn more? Check it out here. --- This is a paper machine. My husband ran one in the 1990s. I’ve often said it’s the only job he ever had where I …
Continue reading Random Excerpt: the Paper Machine and the Gardener
Every so often, I open The Local Economy Revolution to a random location and copy down here what I find. Intrigued by what you read? You can get the whole book here. --- The easiest unintended consequences to figure out are those that will impact me directly – the ones that will come back …
A couple of weeks ago I had a return engagement in Middlesboro, Kentucky for Better Block Boro Part 2. As I wrote about in this entry, the first Better Block Boro was held last October, and since I had never witnessed a tactical urbanism intervention in person, it was fascinating to me. This time I …
Continue reading From the Good Ideas File: expanding the model at Better Block Boro
