We sought to identify determinants of downtown image and retail patronage, which contribute to tourism development in small and mid-sized communities. The purpose of our research was twofold: (a) to understand how visitors perceive the business mix, safety, and atmosphere of the Fargo, North Dakota, downtown and (b) to identify what factors…

The relationship between institutions of higher learning and their local communities is often described as "town and gown." Few studies examine how these partnerships affect state and local public administration and local economic development. We analyzed data from the 2014 Economic Development Survey carried out by the International…

Linguists understand metaphors to be shortcuts to an individual's tacit knowledge about the world. As ethnographers and planners building a university-school partnership and seeking to understand residents' perceptions of their urban neighbourhood, attention to use of metaphor allowed us insight into an insider's mental model of who is in the…

This study explored the role of student (e.g., age, language background, gender), home (e.g., parent/caregiver education), and school (e.g., school type, size) socio-demographic factors in students' school (e.g., in-school arts tuition, arts engagement), home (e.g., parent/caregiver-child arts interaction), and community (e.g., arts attendance,…

Since 2004, I have provided technical assistance to a neighborhood association in a residential, campus-adjacent neighborhood located in a small college town in a geographically isolated coal-mining region of the United States. The neighborhood is shared by year-round residents, most of whom are older adults who have no affiliation with the…

Context is important in facilitating healthy youth development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adult perception of neighborhood and youth engagement in organized activities. This study is a secondary data analysis of 64,076 parents and guardians of school-age youth and adolescents (6-17 years), participating in…

Community strategic visioning is a citizen-based planning process in which diverse sectors of a community collectively determine a future state and coordinate a plan of action. Twenty-one communities in rural Montana participated in a multi-phase poverty reduction program that culminated in a community strategic vision process. Research on this…

Distressed urban neighborhoods face challenges on multiple fronts, but most efforts to confront these problems work in isolation of one another. The New Communities Program (NCP) is an exception, helping selected Chicago neighborhoods develop partnerships to address challenges involving employment, education, housing, and safety in a…

Under conditions of uncertainty, we predict that development will be tied to the idiosyncrasy of organizational forms represented within local regions. Our investigation applies this theory to data on 342 counties and 43,352 businesses in the U.S. South during Reconstruction, finding support for the thesis that organizational idiosyncrasy…

Through cross-disciplinary and participatory processes involving key stakeholders from the Zambian education sector, as well as from the traditional leadership structure, a localized HIV/AIDS-prevention strategy, Interactive School and Community Approach (ISACA), was developed and implemented throughout one province between 2002 and 2006. The…

The purpose of this research was to explore and explain the role housing plays in rural community vitality. Community vitality refers to economic strength and social well-being. In spring 2002 we collected primary interview data from informants in 134 small rural communities in nine north-central states and identified related secondary data from…

The purpose of the study was to make a qualitative assessment of the impact of school consolidation on several rural Nebraska communities that have recently lost their schools. This research uses a multiple-case study design with interviews conducted in three Nebraska communities. The data from this research fell into four broad themes: social…

Relationship between neighborhood characteristics and community development corporations (CDCs) was examined in Jackson, Mississippi. CDCs were more likely to be in neighborhoods with significant numbers of disenfranchised groups and disinvestment in the built environment. They act as subcontractors, which limits their power and mirrors structural…

Examines the process by which real estate developers construct rural images of urban places, exploit anti-urban, pro-rural, and pro-community sentiments, and commodify and appropriate the established meanings of places. Uses Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as a case study. Contains 47 references. (SV)

A survey of 135 small towns in Nebraska found that half had undertaken economic development projects; development activity and success were related to community size (with the smallest communities lacking both local resources and outside support); and most community leaders perceived their development efforts as unproductive. (SV)