Plains, Kansas and Kanstarter

by Lester Limón Built Capital Financial Capital Human Capital Social Capital Uncategorized

Plains, Kansas isn’t a town you read about in the New York Times very often. In fact, I’d be surprised to find it mentioned anywhere in the newspaper’s 163 year history. But yesterday was the exception. This rural community in southwest Kansas is striving to reconnect fresh, healthy food with their residents. The article mentions other critical bits of infrastructure needed to not only keep a community alive and vital, but give it a sense of longevity and identity. Those listed were a post office, library, and school. Others, I assert, are a medical clinic or hospital, church, police/fire services, and a gas station. Typically, in rural communities, a convenience store/gas station fills the void for food items, but at the risk of lower quality and less fresh options, and the overall health of the community suffers as a result. Plains is making the effort to preserve the community by making choices that are move than just economic development, but will provide sustainability in the future.

Another wonderful revelation in the article was the Kanstarter.com crowd funding program recently  started by Marci Penner and Phil Anderson of Newton, Kansas. Granted money by the Kansas Department of Commerce to facilitate the start of the program, these two people, who are themselves leaders in their own community, are using a popular form of entrepreneurial online funding but scaled to the city level. What a wonderful opportunity for rural communities and community development activities! Good job!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/us/a-kansas-town-rallies-for-a-lifeline-in-supermarket-form.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Priorities

by Lester Limón Political Capital Social Capital

During a recent City Commission meeting in a rural community, I listened to members of the public debate the merits of their community producing a Comprehensive Plan. As one might expect, there were many comments concerning the advantages and disadvantages about taking on such a project, but one that caught my attention was that “…the city has too many unpaid projects to be taking on another obligation (paying for a comprehensive planning process); other projects should be paid off first.” My first reaction, being a person who is both an advocate and practitioner of the community planning, was that unpaid projects are the kind of things a comprehensive plan is meant to either avoid, to successfully navigate and manage, or immediately engage. In my opinion, there is no reason to put off planning for the future. A plan meant to change as conditions change. It is meant to be a prioritized list that a person, group, or community uses to end one task and begin the next; always with a larger goal as the end product. There are two rules for planning: have one, and don’t be afraid to change it. Communities that don’t plan are less resilient, making them vulnerable. Planning is evolutionary; create a process for the future, rather than a document. You’ll be glad you did!

The future depends

On more than just good planning;

You must move forward.

– Lester Limón

p3  is happy to hear the recent announcement from PKHLS Architecture, P.A. Welcome to the fold, Gravity : : Works! Focusing on the future in a collaborative way, without the burden of past names, gives you the ability to be flexible, productive, and energizing staying eternally youthful. Well done.

Community Capacity

Community Capacity

by Lester Limón Social Capital

Capacity is generally defined as “the ability to do something: a mental, emotional, or physical ability (2014).” Therefore, to build community capacity is to empower it with the education, motivation, and tools to tackle issues and opportunities with equal confidence. It can be further defined by its propensity to generate new skills over time either by building on past successes, or learning from successful failures. Through these exercises, social networks of bonding and bridging social capital are increased, strengthening the fabric of the community.

Bhattacharya (2004) defined community development as a process that yields solidarity and agency through efforts of self-help, felt needs, and participation. Solidarity is the feeling people have when they belong to something larger than themselves. Agency is the freedom to direct one’s own course of action at any scale, whether neighborhood, or community. When a community follows a directed vision rather than self-help method, neither solidarity nor agency has been generated. Impartially facilitated self-help methods keep communities engaged longer and in a more determined manner. The outcomes are more personal, tailored to fit the community, flexible in their design, and resilient.

“Visioning is an asset-based approach to community development (Green & Haines, 2012).”

The first step in any community change project is to have a collaborative, collective vision as the outcome of the effort. As has been documented by Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone, traditional frameworks of community civic engagement have declined precipitously in the past thirty years leaving the newest generation of community stakeholders and professionals without a formal network of engagement, leaving them somewhat unable to tackle even the smallest community change projects. Trends toward solely technical assistance forms of planning and community development have since prevailed, taking power from the citizenry and producing sanitary, logic-based plans. A different guide and organizational framework gives the newest civic generations a roadmap for community change.

“The visioning process begins with identifying an overall community vision and then develops visions in strategic areas (Green & Haines, 2012).”

By using the standardized self-help framework p3 has developed for communities and facilitators to use for envisioning their future, communities are better able to resolve their own issues and implement their own strategies achieving any goal.

The highest and best result of any community development effort, whether through self-help, technical assistance, or a collaborative mix of the two, is to build community capacity; this, I assert, is largely accomplished by focusing on the community’s health, sustainability, and prosperity. By focusing on self-help and capacity, a community is more resilient; it is more capable of overcoming shock.

 

References

(2014). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. doi:www.merriam-webster.com

Bhattacharya, J. (2004). Theorizing community development. Journal of the Community Development Journal 34(2) pp. 5-34, doi: 10.1080/15575330409490110.

Green, G. P., & Haines, A. (2012). Asset building & community development. (3 ed., p. inclusive). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

Putnam RD. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of american community. (1 ed., p. inclusive). New York: Simon & Schuster; 2000.

 

Attributions

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, used under the Creative Commons license. No changes were made to the original photo.

“Planners address the most important, and often most visible, issues confronting their communities; these issues tend to be wicked problems for which definitions, causes, and solutions remain elusive; and planners are subject to numerous external influences that assist in shaping their roles and responsibilities.”

David P. Brooks, AICP

Rural Grocery Summit

Rural Grocery Summit

by Lester Limón Built Capital Cultural Capital Human Capital

On the 9th and 10th of June, I attended the Rural Grocery Summit in Manhattan, Kansas. The summit is a bi-annual meeting sponsored by the Rural Grocery Initiative, a service of Kansas State University. It is designed to draw anyone interested in food accessibility in rural areas. Attendees came from all over the country to attend the two days, listening to speakers and attending workshops. Those interested were financiers, grocery owners, food suppliers, extension agents, public health professionals, and community development professionals. It was also a chance for programs and participants to network finding ways to capitalize on other’s knowledge as well as building an intellectual network between those in academia and those in business.

An important concept most people are unaware of is a phenomenon known as a “food desert.” A food desert is an area either unserved or underserved with respect to accessible, healthy food choices. These deserts can be in rural areas due to the decline of local grocery stores, or they can be in urban areas where convenience stores are the only access points for people’s grocery needs. These issues are compounded when the population is aging or doesn’t have access to the transportation options required to travel to grocery stores.

Many grassroots groups are attempting to fill the gaps when a local, rural grocery store is closed, or when choices in rural areas are limited. They are linking farmers and gardeners to people desiring or needing healthy food options. Another initiative is reopening the store under the direction of a consortium of community stakeholders. I’ve written about one example in an earlier post.

One important tool I learned about at this summit was the Rural Grocery Tool Kit designed and maintained by the Rural Grocery Initiative. It is a series of links to information for those considering opening a rural grocery store. It categorizes the information into five areas: Assessing the Market, Getting Started, Legal Requirements and Licensing, Financing, and Marketing Your Business. Each link pulls together the websites of useful data. For example, a sample under the Assessing the Market tab is the American Community Survey, the USDA, and the FEAST Planning Manual.

The three legs of a stable community are Health, Sustainability, and Prosperousness.  Without access to healthy, fresh food, our citizens can’t be  reliable workforce, they’ll spend money on increased healthcare, the community won’t be active and vibrant, and it won’t attract new people to the city. I encourage you to take a look at the RGI website (http://www.ruralgrocery.org/resources/) and learn how best you can support food in your community.

 

Circle C Store: star on the rural map.

Circle C Store: star on the rural map.

by Lester Limón Social Capital

Local food initiatives, community gardens and farmer’s markets are buzzwords at the national level in discussions around healthy food strategies in urban environments. Less known is a phenomenon known as “food deserts.” These are areas where citizens must travel distances greater than what is comfortable to secure healthy, fresh food. Very small, rural communities are most vulnerable. The town grocery, a high-overhead business, closes as the community declines in population and business. Now in a food desert, low-income residents can’t easily afford travel expenses, and older populations may be physically unable to regularly travel.

Enter Cody, Nebraska. The Rural Grocery Initiative (http://www.ruralgrocery.org) at Kansas State University invited members of the Cody Circle C store to share their story of determination and success at the regional grocery summit in Manhattan, Kan., the summer of 2013.

Located at the north central border on US Highway 20, Cody is a community of 155 people with a median age of 45. In 2009, the students of Cody-Kilgore school decided to work toward a community grocery store, a vital need in their rural food desert. After many years of work and diligence, and after the construction of a 3,000-square foot, straw bale-constructed building, they took delivery of their first inventory at 6:45 a.m. on March 22, 2013.

Perseverance by stakeholders and community champions makes all things possible. Sustainability is less about the age of rallying participants and more about the cohesive drive of a community to meet critical needs. It always comes down to the work ethic of the citizens and love of one’s community. The students and citizens of Cody, Neb., didn’t set out to be a star on the White House flag, nor did they desire the spotlight at conferences; they came to fill a need in the community and enjoyed, along the way, each other’s company and camaraderie. These are the true virtues of rural community life.

Follow their progress here.

References:

Blog post by Dough McKalip, senior policy advisor for Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council, titled Working Together to Bring Healthy Foods to Communities in Need

http://villageofcody.com/Circle_C_Market.html

McKalip, D. (2014, March 26). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/03/26/working-together-to-bring-healthy-foods-to-communities-in-need/

How hard do we look at the #1 reason to make a community home?

How hard do we look at the #1 reason to make a community home?

by Lester Limón Built Capital

On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a press release announcing a $1.8 billion grant program awarded to 3,100 public housing authorities (PHAs) in the U.S. as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Kansas was noted as the recipient of $10,075,777. Unfortunately, there are 105 PHAs in Kansas that will potentially share these funds. All, I’m sure, have a list of unbudgeted capital improvement projects. How many of the 105 will benefit? While $95,959.78 isn’t a number to sneeze at, it also isn’t enough to pay for repairs to 100 units!

Public housing has notable examples of deferred maintenance. The loss of public housing each year to under-maintained structures is approximately 10,000 units nationwide or under 100 in our state. Besides causing unrecoverable issues for cities and citizens alike,the social stigma surrounding poverty is exacerbated by less-than-ideal living conditions. 

HUD’s Capital Fund Program is available to “build, repair, renovate and/or modernize” public housing in each community. An illustration of the importance of these funds, Jeff Crump, in a 2002 report, outlined policy decisions made in Minneapolis, Minn., where a concentration of public housing in disrepair was considered a part of the issue of poverty. The ensuing conversations resulted in a court case and the eventual demolition of housing units. Because there were no quick replacements for low-income and severely burdened households, people were forced out of their homes and into homelessness.

Most people moving to a community make available housing their primary criteria for residence. It is welcome news that HUD understands the need to maintain a quality housing stock for all levels of income. It will also be critically important for individual communities to do the same.

References:

Brown, J. (2014, March 19). HUD awards $1.8 billion to improve, preserve public housing, grants to support capital needs of 3.100 public housing authorities. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, pp. 1-7.

Crump, J. (2002). Deconcentration by demolition: public housing, poverty, and urban policy. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 20, 581-596. doi: 10.1068/d306

We finish.

We finish.

by Lester Limón Natural Capital

During a recent flight from Chicago, my plane was flying over the vast, pale-yellow Flint Hills of Kansas when I overheard two gentlemen in front of me speaking rather alarmed about a fire below. I looked out the window and saw the long plume of smoke rising to momentarily surround our plane. A large area of blackened prairie trailed a long line of orange, snake-like flame.

“Are you seeing that smoke?” the first gentleman said.

“Yes,” said the second. “It must be a fire but I can’t see any buildings.”

Looking up from my iPad, I said, “We’re burning the prairie. It’s spring and time to start the new cycle of tallgrass for the cattle.”

They peppered me with questions about how big the fires were and how they were managed. Having grown up in the Great Plains, I never thought about how much people know about their own regions without knowing too much about others. I don’t know the idiosyncrasies of the Ohio River Valley or the complexities of agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley. But I do know about seasons in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

“We’ll finish cattle on that grass before they go to market,” I said.

“Finish?” one man asked.

“I mean that cattle will be trucked up from surrounding states and put out on the Flint Hills to gain their last bit of weight from the nutritious tallgrasses, giving them the best chance of higher prices in Kansas City and Chicago. Here in Kansas,” I said, “we finish what others started.”

We finish. What a true commentary on the work ethic of Great Plains people.