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Does your community have good “headlines”
December 16th, 2008 by Mike Knutson
Seth Godin’s recent post reminds us that headlines matter. This is especially true with blogs and websites because people typically don’t take time to read 2 or 3 paragraphs to figure out if they are interested. A poorly written headline and they’re gone.
Godin also notes that our appearance is another type of headline. People judge others they meet based exclusively on how they are dressed and look. Similarly, people judge communities solely on their appearance.
How communities look is based on a lot of factors: What’s the website look like? Is the town clean or dirty? What is the community’s tag line? Does Main Street look good? What does the billboard on the edge of town look like?
All of the above questions speak to “headlines” of sorts that people use to evaluate our rural communities. If any one of them is bad, a community may not get the chance to prove what a great place it is to live. Like it or not, headlines matter.
Tags: community appearance, headlines, seth godin, signage
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (
4 )
December 17th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I’ll respond with a question….
What do we envision as a “good headline?” When we think of the “ideal town,” what comes to mind? A quaint English village? Disneyland’s Main Street USA? Andy Griffith’s Mayberry? Did the media create an unreal expectation of small town life with “squeaky clean” television shows such as Andy Griffith and Leave it to Beaver?
I sometimes wonder if towns shouldn’t invest their resources in making every building and street as nice as it can be (placemaking) instead of trying to recruit a Moby Dick industry. Who knows? If a town is neat and tidy, with great places within, perhaps a business owner will take notice and decide to move there!
I have heard a time or two about “serendipitous” econonic development: A guy visits a town, likes the town and the people, and decides to buy a building and set up a business.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Eric,
Great question, but my answer’s probably too long to comment here. Let me summarize by saying that I believe “good headlines” come in multiple forms depending on the community’s inherent characteristics as well as population group(s) they are focused on attracting.
At a bare minimum, however, I think communities need to make community appearance (or placemaking as you’ve called it) a part of their economic development strategy. And be strategic. Figure out what “headlines” are most visible others; it’s different in each community.
And as for TV’s role in shaping image, not only are the examples you provide unrealistic, but I’m afraid they are also probably unappealing to Gen Y.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I agree with you that my examples were unrealistic. Probably becasue they represent a culture that has long since gone away. Most popular culture in the media is more urban-focused. Take, for example more recent shows such as “Friends” and “Seinfeld,”….EXTREMELY influential programs that had the power to shape our expectations of the built environment and our communities.
December 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
great topic! i am an urban person with an extreme interest in building preservation and a frequent visitor to south dakota. i have noted the unfortunate place that metal buildings have in many small rural main street streetscapes. frequently they stand along side an older brick building in need of restoration/renovation. obviously the cost of rehab/restoration is extreme in juxtaposition to the cost of throwing up a metal ‘building’ and actually getting a business up and going but i wonder about the loss of history and human feel to the community. certainly a town lined with metal storefronts projects a much different feel than one who has kept it’s historic buildings and added to them in a respectful manner!