While many rural places around the US are struggling, a number of communities have the opposite problem:  they are being loved to death.  Places like Bend OR, Jackson WY, Asheville, NC and NY’s Hudson Valley have seen a massive influx of new residents, attracted by each area’s natural beauty and in-demand amenities. Dealing with this influx can be challenging for planners, economic developers, and elected officials, who must develop policies that support full-time residents while also recognizing the economic importance of visitors and second home buyers. 

These towns face what is referred to as an amenity trap. As they attract new residents and visitors, costs for housing and other services go up, often pushing out long-time residents and changing the nature of the community. An excellent new guide, The Amenity Trap:  How High-Amenity Communities can avoid being loved to death,” from Headwaters Economics, offers tips on how to deal with issues related to housing, infrastructure, and emergency services in these high-amenity regions.  There is no silver bullet solutions for dealing with challenges like affordable housing supply, but this report offers many useful tips for addressing these problems and reducing their severity before things get out of hand.  Highly recommended!

Undoubtedly, finding talent remains the number 1 issue for businesses and economic developers today.  The causes of these talent deficits are complex, but I don’t think they are a temporary phenomenon linked to the pandemic or other causes.  Instead, they reflect long-term demographic trends that we’ll be grappling with for decades. That’s why a new book from Alan Mallach, Smaller Cities in a Shrinking World:  Learning to Thrive Without Growth, is so timely.

Mallach’s thesis is both straightforward and controversial.  He argues that many communities, especially small to mid-sized cities, will need to rethink their economic fundamentals due to declining populations.  As populations decline, a region’s capacities to spur economic growth may be similarly hamstrung.  This is not a hypothetical prospect:  between 2020 and 2021, half of American cites with a population over 50,000 lost population, reflecting trends that began over the previous decade. 

Mallach recognizes that some places will still be able to spur growth, and that larger global cities, such as New York, London, or Tokyo, will continue to serve as major economic drivers.  But, smaller cities will be challenged.  For Mallach, this shift also creates opportunities.  His proposed solutions involve shrinking smartly and embracing local solutions, such as small-scale manufacturing, local food systems, and a focus on improving local quality of life. I’m sure that this book will be controversial with many of my colleagues in the economic development profession. Nonetheless, it raises many interesting ideas that are worth discussing.