{"id":13562,"date":"2020-08-24T14:51:17","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/?p=13562"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:51:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:51:17","slug":"sometimes-you-just-need-to-make-your-town-a-good-place-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/2020\/08\/sometimes-you-just-need-to-make-your-town-a-good-place-to-live.html","title":{"rendered":"Sometimes, YOU\u00a0just need to make your town a good place to live!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest post by Paula Jensen<\/p>\n

I watched Jon Stewart’s Political Comedy ‘Irresistible\u2019. The story is set in small-town Wisconsin. The community has recently suffered a devastating loss of their main employer. In response, a failed political consultant from Washington, D.C. lands himself a gig helping a local veteran run for Mayor against the long-time incumbent. The consultant, planning to use this situation for his own political gain, sends out his first press release to the national media titled, Small Town Small Minds<\/em>. When I saw that headline on the screen I said to my husband, who was half asleep, \u201cDid you see that headline? I can’t believe it said Small Towns Small Minds!\u201d This is where you tell me — it\u2019s just a movie \u2013 but why are small towns almost always portrayed as marginal, fragile communities disjoined from the rest of the nation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a January 3, 2020, Washington Post article titled,\u00a0The harmful, popular misconceptions about rural America<\/em>, Christopher Ingraham, a reporter and resident from small town Minnesota wrote, \u201cThere are as many different modes of being an American as there are towns, or families, or individuals living in this country.<\/strong> The mantle of \u201creal American\u201d \u2014 and all the scrutiny, assumptions and mythmaking that come with it \u2014 is a burden that none of us should have to bear alone, but rather is one that we can all share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bearing the scrutiny that these rural stereotypes bring on us is a complex challenge. It will need collaboration, innovation and hard work. Communities with strong human capital, regional connections and a focus on available assets can create opportunities to solve this long-standing, complex issue.<\/p>\n

By taking a step toward action, reaching across differences, engaging with fellow influencers and focusing on local assets YOU can make your town a good place to live and breakdown rural stereotypes. Here’s a list I jump-started for you:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Identify existing assets that offer opportunities for growth<\/strong> and develop strategies to support them. Assets might include infrastructure, skills, cultural, people, social, funding, green space and leadership.<\/li>\n
  2. Engage all residents and organizations to develop a vision<\/strong> for the community\u2019s future. Stakeholder engagement will ensure the vision reflects existing goals and generate public support that can maintain momentum for change through election cycles.<\/li>\n
  3. Seek outside support and funding<\/strong> that can be applied strategically to the community\u2019s vision. Even in small amounts, these resources can increase local commitment and incentivize private investment.<\/li>\n
  4. Encourage collaboration within the community and across the region<\/strong> to strengthen jointly held priorities.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We must not let negative language about our small towns persist. So, get engaged in creating solutions to overcome rural stereotypes that blight our public image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Guest post by Paula Jensen I watched Jon Stewart’s Political Comedy ‘Irresistible\u2019. The story is set in small-town Wisconsin. The community has recently suffered a devastating loss of their main employer. In response, a failed political consultant from Washington, D.C. lands himself a gig helping a local veteran run for Mayor against the long-time incumbent. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":12663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24,23,8],"tags":[259,574,360,573],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Paula-Jensen.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13562"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13592,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13562\/revisions\/13592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}