Two houses are shown in the framing stage. In the foreground, one house has the stud walls up. A stack of lumber and a real estate sight sit in front of it. In the background, another house has rafters up and the side walls are wrapped in greenboard.

How Fairview stopped talking about housing and started building houses

ByBecky McCray

At the Teeny Tiny Town Summit last week, JaNae Barnard from Fairview, Oklahoma, shared how they jump started their new housing project. “We stopped settling for talking,” she said. She loaded up the key folks from Major County Economic Development, and they drove past every single house in Fairview. That gave everyone a much clearer…

The silhouette of a small rural house against an orange sunset background

How housing went from a rural advantage to a top challenge

ByBecky McCray

You’ve probably noticed, but housing is a top challenge in most rural communities and small towns. That makes it hard to remember that back around 2013, cheap housing was a key draw of new residents to rural places, according to Ben Winchester from University of Minnesota and others. But by 2019, lack of housing was…

A collage of pictures of young people and people taking photos with their phones

From photos to action: The power of following up with kids’ voices

ByBecky McCray

At the Rural Renewal Symposium last year, I was stopped in my tracks by a research poster presentation by Rural Scholar Stephanie Harvey on a youth photovoice project.  Why did it strike me? It featured photos taken by kids ages 7 to 17 about what they wanted in their towns. I think you’d recognize their…

A diverse group of people playing human foosball, read ahead for detailed description

Breaking through liability fears that hold volunteers back – Idea Friendly answers

ByBecky McCray

When we were talking about finding more volunteers in a virtual session with Radically Rural, some people brought up liability as a barrier to all kinds of volunteer projects and events.  I get why this came up. Somebody in your town probably brought up liability when you shared an idea, too.  “You want to let…

Two volunteers in colorful shirts pause for a selfie

What if you flipped volunteer recruitment? An Idea Friendly story from Ontario

ByBecky McCray

It’s not just you. Every small town struggles to find enough volunteers to do all the projects and events and ideas.  Cassandra Boniface with the Township of Stirling-Rawdon, Ontario, told us how they flipped the volunteer recruiting process.  “We created the Active Community Expo (A.C.E.). It’s held at our local arena, and is essentially a…

Colorful modern mural of wildflowers, a pollinator insect in front of a huge sun setting in the background.

If you’re tired of “Nothing good happens here!” complaints, make a success list

ByBecky McCray

It’s pretty common to hear rural people say something like, “There’s nothing here!” That’s because they aren’t remembering all the new business activity or they maybe aren’t paying attention. Or maybe they’re only thinking of big new employers, the kind that come with visiting dignitaries for the ribbon cutting and announcement. Most small towns don’t…