Retrofitting a Small Town

by Rob Avis, Verge Permaculture, October 23, 2013

North America is full of small dying towns that are loaded with perfectly good infrastructure, cheap lots and small homes on large lots. They have commercial centers, water systems, parks, social structures and are surrounded by cheap to rent – and sometimes own – agricultural land. They are walkable, bikeable, quiet and usually human scaled. It would seem that these would be bursting with young families trying to make a go at a new way of life. There is certainly the interest, I see it all the time in our students. So what is stopping folks from taking the plunge? I believe there are two major barriers that stop folks from pouncing on this opportunity:

• apparent lack of jobs and/or economic opportunity
• lack of community

In order to reinvigorate a small town, both of these issues need to be dealt with. However, if we create a model, we can re-vitalize any small town. Let’s use Sedgewick, Alberta as an example. More HERE>>