Smart Communities

Don't Worry, Be Happy

John Tierney has put some of our fears at bay in his article in the New York Times this week. Since I consumed a killer hot dog yesterday at the Yankees-Orioles game, I was glad to put my mind at ease. This article reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago with a friend of President John Kennedy's just as the rumors of his private life were beginning to emerge in the press. I asked him if he thought the rumors were true and rather than answer that question directly, he said, " the question is not what he did or didn't do but did he love well." Somehow that conversation resurfaced for me as I read John's list. We are all consumed with surface issues and too often surface people. We worry about the wrong things. The real key to a good life and to good health is to "love well" those around us--our children, our partners, our parents and siblings, and of course, our pets. That is real litmus test of a happy life it seems to me.

It's Still the Economy

If you doubted for a second what I said yesterday about educational levels and the economy, take a look at David Brooks op-ed on the subject. We are loosing our edge as a country as we fail to address this major economic, scientific, and innovation issue. You notice I didn't use the word "education." The scientists, corporations, and entrepreneurs of the country should be leading the charge to find answers. As you have heard me say before, spare me more reform talk. Our educational system was designed for a different era so nibbling around the edges won't do the trick. We have always been a country of bold thinkers and doers. Let's apply that same tradition to educating our children for the future. 

Giving Students a Boost

The new website, Boost Up, is well worth a look. It's focus is keeping kids in school but it has messages for parents, students, and the community at large. With back to school just around the corner, communities must take a new and hard look at how they can insure that this cohort of students succeed and stay in school. That's right--the community. My message to all who will listen that parents are the first line of defense but if they aren't or can't be, the larger community has to step in and take notice. It is in the best interest for the child and for all of us. The high school dropout rate is a key factor in economic development, incidence of crime, and demand for social services. How we handle it can either put money in or take money out of the economy. You choose.

Return to Your Roots: Letting Your Own Grow

Virginia is one of many states encouraging people to move back to their rural hometown. Called Return to Rural Roots here, there are similar initiatives across the country. As population and the local economy moves out, more and more rural areas and regions are trying to call people home. The internet has allowed people to work from home, have a high quality of life, and let their children see their grandparents more often. And the best news, it is working. Dakota Roots in South Dakota reports that 500 people have moved there since Dakota Roots began in 2006.

This is a great idea for many reasons. If the timing is right, it is a powerful force for economic development. While people need a job to come to, having more qualified people in a community is a leveraging resource for recruiting more jobs--chicken and egg dilemma. Second, it is a powerful boost for building social capital. While no hard data are yet available, my guess is that these new folks are more likely to join civic clubs, religious organizations, and to volunteer. If your state or region doesn't have a program like this, take a look.

What to do on Monday: Its about jobs and education

For some strange reason too often there are two separate conversations going on in communities: one about jobs and one about the condition of the public schools. Educators go to meetings about the schools and business people go to meetings about jobs and the workforce. They should save money and ride together to the same meeting. The schools will improve when we get it through our heads that jobs, business recruitment, and economic flexibility depend on them. he availability of a trained workforce is a primary factor in business location. Make this a goal on Monday--get people off these separate tracks. Better education spells better jobs.

Looking for Life in all the Right Places

AARP released this week a list of the healthiest places to retire. Ann Arbor tops the list. The list got play in my community, Charlottesville, because we are on the list at seventh place. Weighing heavily in the selections was access to quality health care but also the overall health of the residents. (I am simplifying this of course.) While I am certainly interested in having health care when I need it, at this point in my own life I am interested in taking care of my mind too. What is great about the places on this list is that they are near a university or college which offers not only courses but free concerts, lectures, and tours. Many of these things are free. I could go to some event most every weekend (and many nights) here in Charlottesville but guess what--I don't. I am convinced that so much is around us that will enrich our lives but we are too busy or too oblivious to see it. What is interesting about these places that doesn't make the narrative is that they have so much going on for seniors and boomers that you cannot miss it even if you wanted to. My point: every town has something to stimulate our minds and help us care for our health if we would look around. Everything from walking trails to bird watching to book clubs are usually available. We need the stimulation of something different--people, ideas, and challenges. It is not where you live that is the issue here, it is what you do where you live. That is the list I want to see from AARP: "The Top Ten Places Where People Are Enjoying Where They Are."

More Community News is Good News

An article in the New York Times in the last few days reported that newspapers will be carrying less foreign news because of cuts in staff and budgets. Citing a new Pew Research Center study, the article describes what is happening in news rooms across the country. This is bad news in the sense that we don't need to rely on just filtered news or wire stories. I like the fact that big papers have bureaus around the globe and reporters see things first-hand. However there is an upside--more community news. The Poynter Institute and others think that is a good thing. A group of people gathered in DC last month to discuss just that. Community news leads to engagement--for this purpose defined as a connection, awareness to your community. This is particularly important as communities struggle to fill the gaps left by economic downturn. While people often complain about their local paper, it is the one place that citizens can find information about the state of the local economy, new development projects, and an occasional good news story. About 15 years ago, the Kettering Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts pioneered an idea called "community or public journalism." There was a hue and cry from some journalists that this concept violated the principle of objectivity but at its core it was about bringing the community back into the community though news. We still need that and more. J-Lab and the Poynter Institute's Teaching Newspaper are great places to learn more.

Tourism and the Environment

As communities seek to improve their image and their coffers, they often create unintended environmental consequences. In an article today in the New York Times, researchers talk about the conflict that can occur between research and the growth that comes from more tourism. While we have heard a version of this discussion for years from the dispute between the loggers and the spotted owl protectionists in Oregon to anti-sprawl folks, this article raises another kind of question. Is increased tourism destroying the very thing that people value where they live and where they visit? Good question and one that economic and community development folks need to wrestle with on the front end, not the back end. The Scots have been very proactive on this front with their sustainable tourism initiative. What I take from the Times article is that we should be award of the encroachment of tourism on the ecosystem but not after the harm is done.

There will be increased pressure on tourism as economic development as the economy's weakness continues. Let's be sure that we don't ruin the future for a few bucks now.

Midway through the Summer...and our lives

I know some of you and wish I knew all. Most of us who read and contribute to this blog are not right out of college. Having said that, most days I feel that way. I still want to change the world, want to see new sites, and have a curiosity about the natural world. This past week my son and I had a picnic in Shenandoah National Park and I was thrilled when we saw a bear. It made me remember the last time I saw a bear in the wild--1958. Translation: we are not dead yet. The question is how will we spend our remaining years? My mother turns 90 in a few weeks so if genes and good luck prevail, I like you, have a number of good years yet.

The answer may have been provided in part by Bob Herbert's op-ed in Saturday's New York Times, Yes We Can. The editorial is about Al Gore's optimism that we can move to renewable energy sources in our lifetime. Mr. Herbert's point is that Gore believes that we can (and too many think we can't). He cites a recent poll from the Rockefeller Foundation/Time magazine that says Americans are pessimistic about the challenges we are facing. Bob Herbert believes we can do better and so do I.

This op-ed was bookmarked for me by another one written by Nicholas Kristol on the impact that baby boomers can and are having. He referenced the fact that Bill Gates has now gone into philanthropy full-time. While the generosity of the Gates and others is enormously helpful what we really need is more of us getting behind ideas that will change things. He suggests that we start the "give-back revolution." Again I am all for this but what we need are causes and challenges that call us to action where we live. I feel like the first half of my life was pretty great, now what about the second half? Will I be a better golfer or create a better world? The jury is still out but I am pretty sure that I won't be on the Senior Tour.

What to do on Monday: Find out what is going on for kids

This week, amidst my enormous computer problems, I talked with a local investment banker about the state of our schools and our resources for young people in Charlottesville. To my surprise I learned that we have many, many resources for disadvantaged children both during the school year and in the summer. In fact according to this source, we have more program slots than children who need them. My questions to him were these: 1) are the children who need outside activities--academic, athletic, and cultural--getting connected with the programs; and 2) why haven't they shown an appreciable difference in the high school graduation rate, test scores, etc? Or is this all happening and I am not aware of it.

So on Monday start the process of identifying the many resources available for children in your community. Are we connecting the dots? Are agencies and individuals working together? How do we know what makes a difference? We have got to have some answers here or we will never be able to really serve our children well. Let us know what you find where you live. I am starting on an asset inventory right here myself. Our publication, What We Know Works, is a good place to start to know what to look for in programs. Although a few years old now, I think you will find it helpful.