Do The Math
How much revenue could be generated in your town just by setting out a couple of tables in front of restaurants in the summer? Joe shares some numbers with us.
Workshop: Filling Empty Buildings
Tuesday, August 16, at 6 pm CST join Becky McCray and I as we present our next workshop: Filling Empty Buildings. You want to fill up those empty buildings downtown, but all the economic development strategies you find sound like they were written for big cities. You want help that works for a…
Sunday Update: Set a Goal
Of course you’ve heard all the hoopla – set goals, continue long after the motivation has gone, be your own hero, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve done that – set huge, bodacious goals in hopes that I could achieve them. Lose 100 pounds! Ride in RAGBRAI!! Climb a mountain!! After six weeks or so, reality set…
Sunday Update: Pokemon Go
I know, I’ve heard it already. Seriously? Pokemon Go? A bunch of people walking around like zombies with heads in their phones … I started playing last Sunday. Well, not really. I started playing on Becky’s phone in Aberdeen in the middle of July. We walked around downtown in search of Pokemon. Sometimes we drove…
Painting the Streets
Last weekend we painted the streets. And we weren’t the only ones. There were lots of us! Arts R Alive, a local group that formed to bring sculptures to West Twin Park back in 2011 and are continuing to do so, got together last year and thought it might be fun to paint the streets…
Sunday Update: Never Give Up
Let me tell you, the human brain makes up some amazing stories. And ever since the internet we’ve all become doctors and specialists. I thought I had diabetes. My feet were burning and tingling, I was tired, my eyes hurt. My dad had it, stands to reason I’d get that too, right? Wrong. The good…
Sunday Update: Bye Bye
It’s time to let go. Things have got to go. There’s no reason to hold on to clothes that no longer fit. I’ve been reading the book “the life changing magic of tidying up” by Marie Kondo about the KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing and storing. She says if the item doesn’t fit and even…
Sunday Update: Somewhere in Cosmos
No, really. I was in Cosmos. Cosmos, MN. Just got back from vacation and headed to Aberdeen, SD to speak at a conference this week and on the way ran into Cosmos, MN. Where they are holding the Space Festival. You can’t make this stuff up! The third weekend of July every year is the Space…
#UseEmptyLots
Last night Becky and I hosted our 4th webinar, Empty Lots and Roofless Buildings, what to do with them. One of the items on the program was #BuildHereNow. It’s a hashtag program started by the Strong Towns people that emphasize empty lots. Granted, they are emphasizing lots in larger cities like New Orleans and Baltimore.…
Sunday Update on a Monday from the Beach
Vacation, we all need to vacate. I’m in North Carolina with my 11 year old great nephew and yesterday we were en-route. On the way, at midnight at the Budget rent-a-car we had to make a very tough decision. Should we keep the Mazda, or spend an extra $100 dollars and take the Mustang? It’s…