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Look it up before the meeting

Plain-language explanations and real questions from residents, volunteers, and local officials about zoning, codes, housing, neighborhoods, organizations, and local economies. Laws and programs change and vary by place, so confirm anything time-sensitive with your local office or the current official source.

Economic & rural developmentClear search

Visitor question · Economic & rural development
"Rocky" Small Rural Town Makes Big Splash and Brands Weldon NC
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 Website visitor writes: By Michael Smith (Rural Ethnography Solutions Website) As a independent Qualitative Ethnography Researcher,
Guide · Economic & rural development
A "Vibrant Downtown Ordinance" Is New Approach
We propose a vibrant downtown ordinance, requiring landlords to fill vacant space to make a lively and vital central business district or shopping area.
Guide · Economic & rural development
A Community's Entrepreneurship Definition Should Focus on Business Success
The entrepreneurship definition we like is the process of becoming a successful business owner, who shows innovation, action orientation, and creativity.
Guide · Economic & rural development
A Night Mayor Position Helps Cities Cope with Night Life and Night Shift Challenges
A night mayor is a city or downtown association employee who improves both the employment and recreational aspects of a city after dark. We explain advantages.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Abandoned Homes in a Village
In our tiny Village we have so many homes that have been abandoned. There are no jobs available in our area and the few jobs that there are pay such low
Guide · Economic & rural development
Arts and Economic Development Are Complementary
Turbo charge the arts and economic development nexus when you actively cultivate cultural connections to tourism, innovation, and place-making.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Attracting a grocery store to a rural small town
Visitor Question: How do we attract a grocery store to our town? Editors Reply: Thank you for giving your zip code, which allowed us to see that you are
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Becoming Certified as a CDC
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Who can I apply to for my company to become a Community Development Corporation? When is application taken?
Guide · Economic & rural development
Beginning to Understand Tax Increment Financing
Municipalities can use tax increment financing, known as TIF, to finance public improvements by borrowing against future additional taxes.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Benefits and Components of an Innovation District
An innovation district consciously creates cross-pollination among start-ups, existing businesses, and higher ed, while featuring attractive employee amenities.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Build Economic Development on Realities, Not Myths
If you are serious about local economic development, avoid pie-in-the-sky activities that don't attract money to the community, and learn what works instead.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Business District Events Favor Restaurants
Visitor Question: I live in Winchester VA. I'm a merchant in the Historic District. The City hired an Events Manager who for three years puts on events
Guide · Economic & rural development
Business Retention Is Best Community Option
Here learn the art of business retention, a much better use of community resources than trying to land one the rare business relocations.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Can CDCs have employees
Last Reviewed: July 4, 2024 Visitor Question:Are community development corporations allowed to hire employees? Why or why not? Editors Reply: Certainly
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
CDC acting in bad faith
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Who can we turn to when our community development corporation, a 501c nonprofit, acts in bad faith, counter
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
CDC and 501(c)3
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: We are interested and looking into starting a CDC in our town. Do you need to register as a 501(c)3 with the
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
CDC's Geographical Footprint
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Can CDCs have a national mandate or does it have to be local? Editors Respond: We suppose this is a definitional
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Cities funding CDCs
Last Reviewed: June 13, 2024 Visitor Question: Are there any restrictions on Cities or local units of government funding CDCs? Editors Reply: There are
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
City Involvement in a CDC
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: We are a small suburban city and what is the expectation of a Mayor's involvement in a CDC? Do Mayors, Council,
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Cleaning Up Neighborhood Store Fronts
Last Reviewed: August 13, 2024 Visitor Question: How do you get neighborhood businesses to clean up their store fronts? Editors' Reply: Ginny, we're
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Closed CDC meetings and transparency
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Can a community development corporation hold meetings which are closed to the community at large? Editors
Guide · Economic & rural development
Commercial District Revitalization Requires Skill, Determination, Experimentation
Commercial district revitalization is challenging due to multiple property and business owners. Coordination and diversification are essential.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Community Attachment Research Provides Excellent Discussion Points
Understanding community attachment can help you retain talented residents. We describe factors in city loyalty, including social life, openness, and beauty.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Community Development Banks Lend to Lower Income Clients
Learn how community development banks offer targeted lending and financial services in low to moderate-income areas.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Community Development Corporation Approval by United Nations
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: I have had a CDC since 2014. Are Community Development Corporations registered and/or approved by the United
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Community Development Corporation Questions Abound; Here Are Some Answers
Community development corporations raise many questions about transparency and accountability. This page is a gateway to asking them.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Community dinners as community engagement
What about having some community dinners as a way of having community engagement? We are a small community of mostly farm families with a couple of small
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Diseases and Economic Development
How does the long term impact of different diseases affect economic development? Editors' Response: We will assume that you are writing from a developing
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Does a CDC have to post public notices
Visitor Question: In the last year or so, a so-called CDC, a community development corporation, has been formed to work in and near the neighborhood where
Guide · Economic & rural development
Economic Development Incubator Helps Start-Ups
An economic development incubator provides local entrepreneurs with support, business advice, and shared facility economies. The goal is job creation.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Elected officials and a CDC
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: We have a CDC (community development corporation) in our city that has created a roadmap for the development
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Empowering illiterate women
Visitor Asks: Why is everything about the youth? What about those women that are encouraged to study further, if after that we are not going to give them
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Encourage young entrepreneurs
I'm a chamber of commerce director in a small city. We have a couple of twenty-somethings who have written successful apps for the iPhone. I met one at
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Engaging Communities for Development
Visitor Question: How do you engage communities in development? Editors Reply: Since you are writing from Africa, we will do our best to answer in that
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Entrepreneurs Can Use the HUB Zone in Urban Core Areas
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 Visitor Comment: A really cool tool for businesses in the 'hood is the HUB zone program, which the U.S. Small Business Administration
Guide · Economic & rural development
Entrepreneurship Support Promotes Job Creation
Communities should cultivate entrepreneurship support to help start-ups as a major economic development strategy. Locally grown businesses are likely to stay.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Fear for the future of our small rural village
What is a sustainable future for a small village of 3,500 that is primarily estate lots, agricultural land and forest and located just 15 minutes from
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Federal funding equity for communities of color
Visitor Question: What types of grassroots community advocacy are effective to assure that federal funds to cities and states are equitably distributed
Guide · Economic & rural development
Higher Education and Economic Development Complement One Another
A community can rev up the links between higher education and economic development. Here are some ideas about how.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
How can a city create a CDC?
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: I'm interested in having our city create a community development corporation for a part of our community that
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
How Can We Get Young People Interested in Voting?
Visitor Question: Our little suburb has been plagued with some terrible elected city council people for several years now. Every time there is an election
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
How Long a New CDC Will Need Grants for Operations
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: How long should a foundation expect to provide operating support for a new CDC? Is there research on the average
Guide · Economic & rural development
How to Approach Commercial Corridor Redevelopment
Commercial corridor redevelopment along major roads and highways improves a community's image and increases the likelihood of business success.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
How to get people interested in our neighborhood plan
Posted: September 29, 2024 Visitor Question: Several of us who are very active in our neighborhood association have finally managed to convince the city
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
How to Select an Economic Development Project
Visitor Asks: What are the secrets to figuring out a good economic development project for my city? We need the jobs and shopping. Editors Reply You're
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Ideal composition of a CDC board of directors
Visitor Question: We are trying to start a new CDC to help us dig out of the urban mess in our neighborhood. The three of us who are working the hardest
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Ideal vision of rural development
Reviewed: May 31, 2024 Visitor Question: What is the ideal vision of rural development? We are having an uproar here about what it means to stay rural,
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Innovative New City Hall Complex Re-Uses Agricultural Buildings
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 Website Visitor Wrote: The new Hutto, Texas, City Hall will recycle a former cotton gin and grain silos in a green design that
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Invest in City Hall or other land uses
Reviewed: May 31, 2024 Visitor Question: When you have 60 acres empty in the middle of town, does it make sense to invest in the city hall over housing?
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Involvement Is Still Everything
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 Website Visitor Says: We blogged, we texted, we e-mailed, we animated on our Web site. Still we had 9 people show up at our meeting
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Is downtown ideal for a recreational facility?
Visitor Question: The City Council of my community (population 12,500) has purchased a long- abandoned building and parking structure, which occupied almost
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Is There a List of Current CDCs
Reviewed: May 31, 2024 Visitor Question: Is there a list of current CDCs? A central registry? How do I find out whether the need I want to address is
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Kennedy Gardens Neighborhood in Action
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 The neighborhood involvement and participation for the past several years has been outstanding. Editors Reply: Wow, Javier, thanks
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Let's Talk About Your Rural Development Question, Even If You Are In Denial
We answer your rural development question submitted on this page. What do you need to know about economic development, quality of life, or other subjects?.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Location Quotient Shows Local Economic Strengths
You can find the location quotient to compare a community's proportion of jobs in various economic sectors to state or national percentages.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Motivate Youths in Rural Communities
How can we motivate youths? Editors' Reply: Usually when adults ask how to motivate rural youth, or urban youth for that matter,they mean how can I motivate
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Multiple CDC's
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Is it possible to have 2 CDC's? If one just patronizes senior citizens and home owners. And the new one wants
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Multiple undeveloped rural parcels in agriculture area, ag economy is CAFO
There are multiple parcels in the county (various sizes, 1-10 acres) platted in early 1980's. Since then, mega dairies have been built in the same zone
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Parking for a small business district
Visitor Question: We have a nice business district of maybe five good blocks of small, mom and pop, mostly locally owned businesses and restaurants. We
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Promoting Community for Retirement
Our tiny Village in west New York state has much to offer. However the employment opportunities are not available. What we do have to offer are very
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Questions and Answers on Economic Development Issues
This page allows visitors to pose questions about their community's economic development issues. See editor answers on increasing prosperity.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Rallying the youth besides elders to help publish a small town historical book & how?
Should we rally the youth to get involved with helping to publish a historical book for a small rural town? How? Mayor Julia M. Meacham of Weldon NC
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Recognition as a Community Development Corporation
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: We are in planning to establish a Community Development Corporation in the State of Florida. We have a 501(c)3.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Retail Attraction Strategies for Bringing in Stores You Want
Successful retail attraction strategies now need to rely on uniqueness and experiences; mom and pop stores will survive only if they adapt to these new realities.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Role of Natural Resources in Economic Development
Visitor Question: Would you please discuss the role of natural resources in socio-economic development and how have they been utilized in their abundance
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Rural community opposes wedding venue
Visitor Question: I live in a rural community where there is a house that has sold to an individual that intends to transform this home into a wedding
Guide · Economic & rural development
Rural Economic Development Includes Diversifying
Rural economic development entails creating new markets for the agricultural base and diversifying the economy to provide new opportunities.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Share Your Civic Engagement Question
This civic engagement question and answer page responds to visitor concerns about apathy, youth motivation, and the need for more robust citizen participation.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Shopping Center Renovation: What To Try
Shopping center renovation may pay off if a clear market still exists. If you must have retail to replace a tired mall, this page makes suggestions.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Shortage of Accommodations in a Rural Area
Visitor Question: We are in a small town in a rural area. We are not near a major highway and do not have any big industries or anything. We do have a
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Should a business district manager help an individual business
Visitor Question: I own a restaurant in a popular neighborhood of our city. We have an organized business district that collects a small tax, and the district
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Small southeastern rural town future
I'd like to know your views on small rural towns (pop. 2500 or less) futures, in re-identifying themselves and developing a sustainable economy based historical
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Small waterfront development in rural town
Published: August 9, 2024 Visitor Question: My town has 32 acres now owned by the town that it wants to develop. The town council only seems to be able
Guide · Economic & rural development
Take a Long Look at Community Poverty
Learn to organize a town or city to address community poverty, simply because poverty represents a lost opportunity for economic development and vitality.
Guide · Economic & rural development
The Definition of Economic Development Is Not So Obvious
The definition of economic development consists only of activity that it brings outside money into your community. Selling snacks to each other doesn’t qualify.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Too many parking lots in big city downtowns
Last Reviewed: June 10, 2024 Visitor Wrote: More and more parking lots are taking up space in the downtown areas of major cities, it seems to me. I travel
Guide · Economic & rural development
Tourism and Economic Development Go Together
A strong tourism and economic development strategy building on the experience economy can boost business opportunities in your community.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Tourist Attraction for Communities
What must be done in the community in order to inspire tourists? Editors Answer: Nduh, we have a whole page on tourism and economic development, and
Guide · Economic & rural development
Try a Maker Space As a New Economic Development Idea
The maker space concept applies to both youth and others seeking a designated space for tinkering, leading to homegrown economic development.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Unbanked People Feed the Payday Loan Store Problem
Reviewed: June 4, 2024 Website Visitor Writes Many people in our community have lost their bank accounts because of one bounced check. Other older people
Guide · Economic & rural development
Understanding the Economic Base for Your Community
Attract and support the economic base businesses that bring new money into your community. Learn to distinguish those from local consumption businesses.
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
What can a suburb do about business closings?
Our suburb was always a beautiful place, mostly built in the 1970s and early 80s, until just recently. We never had any trouble, we had all the conveniences
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
What does credible messenger mean for a CDC?
Visitor Question: Someone at our CDC board meeting last night kept reinforcing the need for a credible messenger. What exactly does that mean? I understand
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Where development projects get money
Last Reviewed: June 11, 2024 Visitor Question: How do real estate developments get the money they need? Do all of the funds come from people's pocketbooks,
Visitor question · Economic & rural development
Who Regulates CDCs?
Reviewed: June 12, 2024 Visitor Question: Who has the authority to regulate what a CDC does? The one that is active in my neighborhood is now proposing
Guide · Economic & rural development
Will the Benefits of a Business Improvement District Make the Assessment Worth It?
One of the chief benefits of a business improvement district is building and maintaining a better commercial area than the city's standard level of service.
Guide · Economic & rural development
Working Smart on Business Attraction for Your Community
Communities may be too passive about business attraction. We outline the best straightforward but demanding steps to take to recruit a particular business.

Original guidance from A Good Community: How to Make and Keep It, owned and edited by Nancy Thompson (formerly Useful Community Development), shared with permission. Community Compass notes and updates are our own and have not been reviewed by Nancy Thompson.