My father was very alarmed by the depopulation of small rural towns after the WWII.
As I explored the issue I came to understand that agriculture was coming to an end and that jobs were expanding in urban areas. Small towns had no chance.
20 years ago I began to see that a reverse process was possible. The arrival of the computer and the Internet was creating millions of jobs that could be performed in small towns in rural areas.
The question for me became one of: what would work to make a small town appealing?
The answer most small towns and redevelopment experts had was wrong. I have seen town after town remade into a miniature Disneyland and fail completely. In the worst-case the four-lane highway still runs through the downtown but sidewalks are wider and coffee shops and boutiques line the main street.
Almost universally these small town promoters are also opposed to chain stores.
The hostility is inherently nonsense. Travelers and tourists always feel comfortable when they see a chain store they recognize. It is a source of comfort. Some chain stores are the only source of reliable quality: Starbucks, McDonald's, UPS and Gap.
What makes the small town appealing to visitors and settlers is the same thing. A 19th century business that can survive in the 21st century. The people who go to small towns are sentimental.
This photograph shows a perfect example in a small town of Lyons Colorado. 15 miles from Boulder. The store houses a man who manufacturers bamboo fly rods. He has beautiful displays. He also has back orders for five years.
Similar stores that could create a real Main Street would have bicycle repairs, bicycle supplies, old-fashioned antiques, traditional beer making, a quaint ice cream store, a kayak store and antique car restoration.
You get the point. Sentimental but still commercially viable.
That is what brings visitors and settlers to small town America.
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