Ilana Preuss is the founder and CEO of Recast City, a program that helps cities build strong downtowns by empowering small-scale manufacturers. Today, she joins host Tiffany Owens Reed to discuss the importance of small-scale manufacturing and her experiences as a city builder.
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They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Oregon policymakers seem to disagree, as they plan to pour $30 million of taxpayer money into reviving container shipping services at the Port of Portland…even though it’s been a consistent economic failure.
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Economic productivity, cost-effectiveness and safety: stroads fail at all three. Advocates in Port Huron, Michigan, are working to make their city recognize that, so they can turn the dangerous Huron Avenue into a thriving community center.
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Here’s a grounded look at why an elevated walkway didn’t do as much to save downtown Morristown, TN, as residents once hoped.
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Entrepreneurship makes Main Street go round, but those working in the field have to remember that building owners are entrepreneurs, too, and they should be getting a lot more attention.
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A recent advertising insert in the Winnipeg Free Press would have us believe that road expansion will solve not only homelessness, but crime and addiction, as well. Let's investigate these lofty claims.
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Residents of Winter Garden, FL, realized they needed to take action to revive their declining town. They did this by focusing on one straightforward goal: bring people back downtown.
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Streets can be about many things, but unless they are building wealth for the community, they won’t survive. Period.
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Today, prosperity isn’t gold, land, or natural resources; it’s know-how.
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Towns and cities whose economies relied on tourism are in major trouble. Even when the economy recovers, these places won’t soon go back to business as usual. Nor should they.
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Endless growth is a luxury we literally can’t afford. Here’s why the path to true prosperity requires local communities to opt out of an economy of greed and bring decision-making back home.
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Modern Monetary Theory suggests that recessions can be avoided – along with lots of unnecessary pain – if policymakers will commit the resources to preempt them. Sounds like the same promise the Forest Service made fighting fires last century.
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When a new brewpub, restaurant, or entertainment venue opens in your town, is this a sign of growth, or merely a shift in where patrons spend their dollars? And what does that imply about cities that subsidize such things?
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Our neighborhoods won't be revived with a giant infusion of cash. Rather, we have to take small steps over time to truly build economically prosperous cities.
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(Hint: It doesn't involve luring a mega-corporation to our community.)
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If the global economy is like a hot air balloon, we're only given the option to continually go higher -- despite the risk -- or cut all the air and crash. Those options aren't good enough.
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This video explains why our cities are going broke in spite of what appears to be so much economic activity and growth.
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Many people associate Jacobs with a love of walkable neighborhoods, urban parks and historic buildings. What they fail to grasp is that these are means to an end, not the end itself.
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What is the true value of walkable neighborhoods? Why do we need them and desire them so much?
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