Local Economy

We are in the midst of a global transformative change in what it means to be a "Community," and in particular, a Sustainable Community. At the heart of this change is the growing recognition that personal, social, and cultural...

I live in Lake Forest Park—a town of about 12,000 people on the very northern edge of Seattle, Washington. That we are a town at all is an accident.  Lake Forest Park began as a real estate development located...

We find ourselves today as public sector leaders working in an era of dynamic global economics, stormy political discourse and facing yet another crisis in confidence in our public institutions. Memories of 9-11 sacrifices of public servants have faded...

One day, when my mother was in her 70’s, she told me a story about how things had changed in her small town since she was a girl. She said, When I was a girl, things were very different. When...

I would like to whisper a quiet caution to those of us who are investing in institutional or structural reform efforts. There is an intensifying stream of efforts to reform our institutions. In theUSthere is government reform, education reform,...

What does a thriving way of life look like in a post-consumerist society? Many aspects of a thriving future can be found by stepping into a contemporary co-housing community or eco-village. To illustrate, my wife and I lived in a...

Recommendations from the founder of The Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont's free-market public policy research and education organization; widely published commentator on Vermont issues;  co-author of The Vermont Papers and editor of the Institute’s monthly Ethan Allen Letter. Herbert Agar  Land of...