Ever dreamed of picking up and moving some place, well, greener? Mother Earth News has a new list of eight unexpected small town spots where people are putting down deep roots.
We think there's an emerging ideal of green that puts community first: link people together with strong bonds, and you'll give them a strong incentive to better the place they share. That's the explanation Mother Earth News gives for some of the great developments in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, one of the eight great places.
When people get together and ask these kinds of questions, they often decide to right past wrongs. As the article explains:
“What do we have here that’s worth protecting and enhancing? What does Eau Claire need in order to be a better place?” In brainstorming sessions called “The Idea Lounge,” participants identified the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers as one of the city’s finest assets — a valuable link to the area’s heritage — even though its industrial years (sawmills, coal tar plant, battery factory, etc.) had left deep scars.
If you live in, or have you been to one of the eight great places listed below, let us know your impressions.
• Bloomington, Indiana
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Wow, a southern city. Cool. I'll have to check out Ocean Springs on our next trip through MS.
view tgray99's profile
and the employment opportunities in these areas are?
view JacksonMarie's profile
Well, Eau Claire's major employer is the state university, though there are lots of McJobs in the strip malls along the highway. Plenty of residents commute the hour to the Twin Cities for jobs, and I don't think they're bicycling. (I've been back to visit in the last year or so...)
The kind of planning session that took place in Eau Claire is not a sign of being a "great place." It's a sign of being a decaying industrial town that's lost much of its job base and is feeling desperate.
Now, trying to find a direction is vastly better than sinking into the sludge (compare: Troy and Schenectady), but these improvement measures can languish for decades if there's no major employer to provide jobs that stimulate the local economy.
view wende in the twin cities's profile
AHHHH!!!
I'm FROM Ocean Springs.
Yay Me!
tgray99--you should. Pick up once of the recent past issues of Southern Living--or go to their website--for a list of cool spots in OS, Hattiesburg, Bay St. Louis and a few other places.
Seriously, though, Ocean Springs has a large, strong community of artists that have been living green for years and years.
It's a great town. I encourage everyone to go see what the MS Gulf Coast has to offer. We're getting stronger every day!
view Nicole R's profile