Are small towns part of the past

So, am I excited that they acknowledge small towns for tourism, or am I disappointed that they relegate them to the past?

Experience Ohio's Small Town Past

Seen in the CVG Cincinnati Airport 

Now, how can we do something with this? How can we promote small towns as part of the present, or maybe even, gasp, the future?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Posted by Becky McCray on Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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15 comments:

  1. Being in a small town, approx 4,000, along I-10 between two of the largest U.S. cities - Houston & San Antonio...we are definitely the present and the future. IF we work hard at it. Have shopping and restaurants that appeal to all, have hours that are conducive to a visit, join the world-wide-web of opportunity to invite them to experience customer service, satisfaction & relaxation. All elements of the past that are craved now in the present and will only grow in the future. Small towns ARE the future, they just have to not live in the past.
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  2. What ever happened to the trend of moving to small towns because internet services are everwhere? You can run a business from anywhere today online...remember all the buzz around that idea? That way you can have the best of both worlds...

    BTW... I am always posting your posts to my twitter account(@johncharlesWI)... your perspectives are so interesting... keep up the great work... I'm a fan.

    I moved to a small town outside of Madison, Wi 29 years ago... now its no longer small... looking for another small town to move to... thanks for all the great tips ..John
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  3. Silver Barn, I think you've put it very well. Taking the best elements of our past and present is how we build our future.

    John, the trend of moving to small towns is out there. In fact, the latest research from USDA shows that baby boomers are going to increase the number of folks moving to small towns. Access to internet service is a key factor. It isn't consistent, and that's an issue we have to address as we try to build a viable future for small towns.
    Thanks for sharing our posts. I hope they add value.

    Lots of our small towns rely on our past to promote themselves. So how do we show our small towns are relevant to the future and tourism?
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  4. On behalf of Ohio's small towns let me assure you that we are not all content with living in the past. I currently live and work in one of those great small towns and readily use resources, such as this blog, to bring ideas to the community.

    I think that in order to show their viability in the future, small towns should not dismiss ideas as "big city" ideas. Thanks to you Becky, we are developing our coworking space. Through Twitter we've stumbled upon Start up Weekend. On the surface these ideas seem a little out of place for rural Ohio. To anyone who pooh-pooh's an idea we simply ask them not to tell us why something won't work, but instead to help us understand how we can make it work. Of course, we are still working on these concepts and they may not be successful. But, that's okay, because we're out there trying.
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  5. I definitely agree on this article, The past is something to be kept of as a reference for viewing history, we are all made from our past but we should focus on the present and how we can light today's moments to a brighter future.
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  6. Darrin, good for you! That is exactly how you keep small towns alive into thefuture: you keep trying new things.

    Red Hot, thanks for agreeing. Feel free to add new ideas to our discussions, too.
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  7. @jimdraze added this on Twitter:
    Seems like the marketing response is, "Visit _____'s small town future." Highlight small business, walkable towns, etc
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  8. Becky-
    I think we are seeing a real return to 'local' values, 'local' goods and 'local' faces. I think it's a direct result of the downturn in the national economy. People will absolutely support a local, small-town community as long as it provides value. Look at the people in small cities with their own vegetable plots. It can be tough to get these small town projects off the ground, but be patient. Things are changing.
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  9. Thanks for adding your thoughts, Donald.
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  10. I live in a big western city. Just went out to lunch and passed about 15 police cars pulled over by a drainage ditch. One of the officers had his shotgun drawn and was anxiously looking around for something. A group of officers had one car pulled over and yet a third group had some guy on the ground.

    I am gonna move out with y'all. Don't go anywhere!

    MAS
    http://seoconsultantsdenver.thewebinfocenter.com
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  11. MAS, plenty of room. Come on out. :)
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  12. We're doing our best to help the cause through the use of eye candy and best of lists--sort of like the traditional guide book approach but in blog form. It's not always so easy as many, many small towns have no concept of a compelling internet presence (or even a decent one).

    We don't think small towns are the past or the future but a clearer vision of who we really are. To us, cities and suburbs are nothing more than collections of villages. And it seems the neighborhoods in these cities and suburbs that most closely mirror the traditional small towns are the one's that are most successful (and often wealthiest).

    http://www.thecountrydogs.com
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  13. Thanks, Country Dogs. You have an interesting approach going there.
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  14. As director of economic development for a rural community of 1,300 I can say that our rich history is a valuable tool in promoting our future. Our approach: Look at all of our history! Look what we're doing now to celebrate it and evolve as a community! And look where we're going! Part our present is going digital...developing a good website and social networking presence is a must in my opinion. We are also actively engaged with other communities of similar size and who have similar progressive ways of doing business. Identifying these communities as resources and not as competitors serves us well and reaching out quickly becomes reciprocal.
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  15. Sounds like you have a great way of using your assets, anon.
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