The Iowa Community Betterment (ICB) program provides support to communities attempting to maximize their own resources and create development. In two ICB projects, Edgewood citizens developed badly needed affordable housing and built a golf course, and Greene residents boosted tourism by building a paddlewheel riverboat and supporting local…

Suggests strategies for reviving small rural communities. Discusses community development meetings, developing effective leadership, and involving youth and women. Discusses importance of development programs, effective media, good educational systems, and other community institutions. Emphasizes important role of local youth programs, schools,…

Describes four successful community programs dealing with waste management issues, developed with assistance from Keep America Beautiful System: litter prevention (Beatrice, Nebraska); composting yard waste (Centralia, Illinois); recycling (Lake Jackson, Texas); and waste-to-energy incineration (Gastonia, North Carolina). Notes related education…

In Danville, Kentucky, the community cooperated in converting a neglected stream into a walking trail and park network, resulting in increased community pride, environmental awareness, community revitalization, and public-private cooperation. The local middle school regularly tests the water, and the local college's annual clean-up party earned an…

Impact fees significantly reduce the burden on small town governments to pay for capital facilities necessitated by new development. Describes how an impact fee program in St. Albans, Vermont, helped offset costs in providing additional facilities and services related to parks and recreation, law enforcement, the library, fire protection, road…

Community groups, volunteers, and local businesses helped a small North Carolina town initiate many programs for at-risk youth including Head Start, DARE, after-school programs at community centers and the library, summer programs, park development, and reduced swimming pool fees. A program that informs crime victims of the status of their cases…