Escape the City!

CBC

  Escape the City — that’s a concept that’s likely to become increasingly common as our major centres become increasing crowded — and expensive. Life in a major urban area isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Sky-high housing costs, seemingly endless traffic woes, crime, pollution, noise, and stress — lots of stress —…

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Rosebud, AB Shows the Arts Can Transform a Small Town

rosebud, ab, where culture matters!

Rosebud, AB is tiny (fewer than 100 citizens) but mighty — at least when it comes to using the arts as an effective means of economic transformation. Every year upwards of 40,000 patrons flock to Rosebud, to eat a fabulous meal and enjoy fully professional theatre, in the middle of “prairie nowhere”! The Rosebud story…

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Local Manufacturing Big in Rural America

Local manufacturing matters in rural America, employing more than 3.5 million workers. As rural America’s second largest sector, manufacturing employs 14% of rural civilian employees and produces 15% of total rural US earnings – that exceeds the retail sector, and is more than double agriculture’s presence in the US rural economy. After an era of…

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Cooperation At the Heart of One Small Community’s Success

Community is crucial

  Community — pulling together collectively to affect real change — is often the key in small town turn-arounds. In this informative article written by Spotify’s Dayna Winter, we’re introduced to Almonte, Ontario, a town of 5,000 that has managed to revitalize itself through developing a collaborative consensus around development.   Small towns exist in snow…

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Rural Schools Matter — a Brief Summary

Rural schools matter — a small town without a school is often a community without hope. This brief BC Rural Centre summary will be of interest to anyone who cares about the future of rural towns and villages whose schools are threatened with closure.     For a more in-depth look at the issue of…

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The Arts & Rural Revitalization

On November 28, 2017, the BC Rural Centre hosted its first-ever webinar, on the topic of the arts and rural renewal. Sarah Calhoun of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and John Davis of Lanesboro, Minnesota discussed their respective experiences in helping bring positive change to small, remote communities.     Sarah Calhoun Sarah has been called…

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Arts and Rural Renewal

arts and rural renewal

Sarah Calhoun of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and John Davis of Lanesboro, Minnesota discussed their respective experiences in helping bring positive change to small, remote communities.     Sarah Calhoun Sarah has been called a “revolutionary figure in rural business today,” and a “powerhouse of inspiration for women in business.” Her dynamic style and inspiring…

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New Denver/Silverton Report Summary Released

New Denver/Silverton

New Denver/Silverton were recently the unsuspecting hosts for a contingent of “secret visitors” from Kaslo, who spent an October day checking out everything from the highway entrances to the two villages, to their take on the local economy. The project, called First Impressions, was carried out under the auspices of the BC Rural Centre with…

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Attracting Young People to Rural Communities

Attracting young people is important

Attracting young people is one of the toughest challenges facing rural communities. The outflow of young people from rural to urban hits small towns and rural regions in a variety of ways, including stripping communities of badly needed tax revenue, threatening the viability of local schools, depressing local and regional economies, and stripping fraying towns…

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Café Culture Comes to Rural Ontario

Cafe culture comes to rural Ontario

Café culture stirs the pot in rural Bath   One of the first things young people look for when considering a move from an urban centres to a rural setting is the availability of great places to eat & drink. When Lauren Gamble returned to rural Ontario after working in Australia for a number of…

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