Revitalize, or Die.

06/12/2026

Last December I attended my fathers graduation from the University of Miami, its a long story, but he had a 60 year break between classes and decided to go back to finish his degree. In any case, as I was sitting and listening to the commencement speaker, it crossed my mind as to what I would say if I were to be asked to fulfill such a honorable obligation.

So here goes…

Dear graduating class of 2026,
There are a million pieces of advice you will receive in the coming years, some worth heeding, and plenty worth ignoring. I know I could share all of the mistakes I have made and caution you to avoid them, but I believe the most important piece of wisdom I can offer is this: be extremely intentional about the surroundings in which you place yourself.

A career working in urban planning and community development has taught me one invaluable lesson. We become the places we inhabit. Just as a plant won’t grow larger than its pot will allow, people rarely grow larger than their place allows. As my colleague Ryan Short so succinctly put it, “place is like water to fish.” And fish are never healthier than the streams or lakes they swim in, and people don’t tend to be healthier than the neighborhoods and communities they live in.

Humanity’s greatest attribute is our ability to adapt. As a species, we inhabit every single corner of this planet, from the frozen tundras of the poles to the deserts of the equator. People even live in Orlando, they say. We have managed to adapt to every conceivable habitat because we are, in fact, remarkably adaptable. This has allowed our species to thrive, but it also comes at a cost. When our surroundings are healthy and cared for, we adapt and grow healthier alongside them. When they are not, we adapt in unhealthy ways.

Read the rest over on my Substack, see the link in comments

06/11/2026

Last week, I shared a post regarding regional Civic Health Clinics and got a huge response. There was a lot of interest in hosting these events so I wanted to take the chance to repost and include details of what would be required to be a host community/region.

Most community development training is designed for individuals.

But community change doesn't happen individually.

Why do we keep asking one person to come home and somehow change an entire community?

Revitalization is a social activity; learning should be, too.

So, my friend, Rebecca Undem of Growing Small Towns, and I are exploring a new community learning experience specifically designed for communities of 5,000 people and fewer.

And instead of sending individuals, you’d register a team of up to 4 people from your community for $1,200.

You'd learn together.
Challenge assumptions together.
Build relationships with leaders from other small towns.
Leave with a shared 90-day action plan.

Because the goal isn’t to learn cool theories.

The goal is to experience things that make you want to come back to your town and get stuff done.

06/11/2026

Blight can’t be erased overnight.

But decline can be halted in an instant.

The moment you begin to maintain, you are fending off the forces of chaos and disorder. The moment you start getting incrementally better, you shift a trajectory. And trajectories dictate where you end up.

It may start with pulling weeds and picking up trash. It may lead to planting flowers and applying paint. It’s hard to say exactly where the process takes your town, but it is guaranteed to be somewhere better.

A community cannot improve itself and not experience a boost in self-esteem.

When people see that progress is possible, something changes. When they become proud of their surroundings, they stop distancing themselves from their town and start identifying with it.

You don’t need a master plan. You don’t need a grant. You don’t need permission.

You need a broom and enough people who refuse to accept decline.

Start there.

06/10/2026

I want to talk to the weirdos for a minute.

The preservationists. The urbanists. The building huggers. The people who show up to council meetings and actually give a damn.

You are not the norm. Most people don’t know how to look at chaos and envision order. Most can’t view blight as opportunity. Most have never lived in a place that actually improved in their lifetime.

And we can’t keep hoping they’ll suddenly become civic-minded. We can’t keep trying to convince people to show up and care.

We have to start doing the relentless work of making things better.

Not hoping for change. Making it.

Because here’s what happens when you do: The potential that only you weirdos could imagine starts to seem realistic to everyone else. Progress stops feeling impossible and starts feeling expected.

And when things really get good? People will want to associate themselves with your town to boost their own self-image.

That’s when you know you’ve won.

Keep going, weirdos. Your town needs you, we all need you!

06/09/2026

When people talk trash about their hometown, they aren’t just being negative.

They’re trying to create distance between how they see themselves and how they see the place they call home.

They don’t want to be associated with a blighted town. They don’t want to feel the shame of substandard surroundings.

Think about what it would feel like if you stopped maintaining your own home. Over the years it would stop being a source of pride and become a source of shame. Something you hid. Something you distanced yourself from.

Towns are no different.

When we stop tending to our surroundings, people naturally begin a strained relationship with those surroundings. We shouldn’t blame them for that. It makes complete sense.

The question is what we do about it.

06/08/2026

“Why would you move here?”

“Why would you want to start a business here?”

“Why would you renovate a building here?”

I hear these questions in a lot of places I visit. People asking them of their own community, about their own home.

That’s not pessimism or realism either, but low civic self-esteem and it’s plaguing too many of our places.

The problem with low civic self-esteem is that it can’t be fixed with the typical approach. There are no technical solutions that lift self-esteem. All the grant money in the world can’t make a community like itself. Even the best plans can’t force a town to believe in itself.

Cities don’t behave like machines. They behave like people. Because cities are made of people, not parts.

06/05/2026

The kids aren’t leaving for the reasons you think they are.

Sure, a certain percentage of graduates will always want to broaden their horizons, get a college degree, or go live in the big city. That is normal and healthy. But plenty of kids typically also want to stay home, and that requires home to do its part. Most hometowns aren’t.
So many hometowns have failed so badly that the only people staying are the ones who are stuck. That is absolutely not good enough. I’m not saying everyone who stays in their hometown is trapped and doesn’t have options, but a town’s success or failure takes place on the margins. When the percentage of graduates who leave increases, towns begin to die.

If even a few more kids choose to stay after graduating, or a few more move back after their time away, that might actually save your town. Not everyone has to stay, but we need to make a compelling case for more to stay and more to return. What most towns need is just to hold their population or grow a little, and as the business world likes to point out, it is easier and cheaper to retain an existing customer than it is to land a new one. Yet when I spend time in towns, so much effort goes toward attracting tourists and outside businesses, but no one is thinking critically about how to keep the kids at home.

Read the rest over on my Substack. Find the link in the comments

06/04/2026

06/03/2026

It’s graduation season. Before we start wringing our hands about brain drain and hoping more kids stick around this time, let’s ask ourselves a different question.

Not what do we want as a community, but what do these kids want? More importantly, what do they need to feel like they are living a rich and meaningful life?

And then ask yourself honestly: Can they get that here?

Look for a full post on Friday