Location. Location. Location.

We have heard this for years and yet for many communities this very value makes it nearly impossible to find hope of ever becoming all that it can be. A chicken-and-egg-like dilemma exists in that if location, ripe with rich natural resources and amenities, well maintained housing stock with modern amenities and vibrant downtown's, is what people are looking for, then how does a community that is facing negative population change and/or watching workers come pouring into their community to go to work only to leave at the end of the workday to go back “home” even begin to compete? For most, the answer to the dilemma will not be simple, nor will it be cheap but thankfully, if deployed properly and applied consistently there are a few key tools available that can go a long way toward heading in the right direction. In the next few posts I will begin to unpack what I believe are some of the key steps communities can take to solve these and other related issues.