Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Americana
“At Strong Towns, we push back on the concept of a “solution.” There is no solution to the housing trap we find ourselves in… it’s always been an approach… People need to be able to try things, to respond to street or opportunity as it presents to them. Those responses need to be incremental, a […]
Diary of Orrin Brown, outside Savannah, Georgia Thursday–Dec. 15th We had to put our camp in order today. The rebs threw some shell into our camp today but done no damage, we also improved our breastworks today to shield us from the rebs shell. The day has been very warm. Back in the Western Theater, […]
Diary of Orrin Brown, Louisville, Georgia Tuesday–Nov. 29th The day has been clear and warm, there has been some of our foragers killed by Rebbels today, we are still in camp here one mile east of Louisville. War is hell. There should be no illusion when men take up arms against other men, with the […]
It used to be that at the very least you could count on the trains running on time. Not anymore. The Red River Farm Network out of Grand Forks, ND, has great coverage of agricultural issues across the northern Great Plains of Minnesota, the Dakotas and somewhat into Montana. In this week’s news digest, they […]
August is back-to-school time (unless you’re in Minnesota, then it’s one-last-trip-UpNorth time). Two months on my new job trail and things are looking up, but if the usual suspects don’t come through, there’s always the option to go back to school. Source: Online-PhD-Programs.org .
The Center for Small Towns of the University of Minnesota at Morris presents an excellent conference each spring on small town and rural issues. This is where I met Ben Winchester for the first time and started learning about his work (now with Extension) on rural migration. I really wish I could make it back […]
Twelve months have flown by since I moved back Out West to join the Laramie County Planning & Development Department, here in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There are many differences between the eastern side of the Great Plains in Minnesota and the Dakotas, and the western side here along the Rocky Mountains. While population continues to contract […]
[v=3PP2Old8jo4] Intelligent Community Forum partners with Blandin Foundation to close the digital divide for rural Minnesota communities Published Wednesday, June 12, 2013 10:00 am $6.6 million project monitored 11 communities over two years and tracked increases as high as 60% in the use of broadband to boost their economies (New York City, New York, 12 […]
Special thanks to Becky McCray for fitting my guest post into her Small Biz Survival blog the first of the month. My friends at APA STaR may also include in the Division newsletter. Oh, the stories we have to tell… Small town and rural planning is not city planning writ small. Yet we are also […]
Broadband is essential infrastructure for the 21st century. Just as paved roads, electricity and drinking water supported development in the last century, broadband communications is required for development today. Yet as author William Gibson said, “the future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” Hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors […]